


Please Don't Stop the Music

by BeChloeMevie358



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Abuse, F/F, Fluff, Homophobia, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2020-10-27 20:23:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20766425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeChloeMevie358/pseuds/BeChloeMevie358
Summary: One-shots based off of songs and music videos





	1. Happier - Ed Sheeran

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a collection of one-shots based off of songs and music videos. I do accept suggestions which you can leave in the reviews, but I won't promise that I'll use them all, especially if they're songs from musical soundtracks because I find that those would be too easy to write a story based off of. Also, the three characters that are included in the filters (Beca, Chloe, and Stacie) are the only ones I prefer writing about (So Bechloe and Steca). Sorry for being so exclusive, but that's just me.

Chloe was walking through the streets of Brooklyn, New York alone. It was about 8:30 pm, but she didn’t care. She just needed to get out of the empty apartment. So many things reminded her of her and it was starting to feel suffocating. She needed the semi-fresh, outside air.

She aimlessly wandered about, head hanging low, eyes downcast, and spirits far beneath the earth’s surface.

She was not having a good day. At all.

It’s officially been one full month since that awful night. One month since she and the Bellas had wrapped up the USO tour. One month since Beca’s outstanding Freedom! ‘90 performance. And one month since she made quite possibly the worst mistake ever. It was a sad kind of anniversary to the redhead.

That horrible night was very clearly implanted into her brain. How could it not be? She could never and would never forget the look on Beca’s face. The devastated expression that graced her beautiful features. It had been forever burned into her mind.

_ Adrenaline was coursing through Chloe’s entire being as she confidently strode off of the stage after having done one last performance with the Bellas. _

_ It’d been an amazing night. An amazing last performance to finish off an amazing experience with her amazing second family. It was all just…amazing. _

_ There was only one flaw though in the trip and that came in the form of a flirty, British music executive she believed was named Theo. _

_ The redhead wasn’t completely blind. She noticed the way he looked at her small best friend. It was more than obvious that he was absolutely smitten with her and she never saw Beca rebuff his advances, which must’ve meant that she wasn’t totally repulsed by him or averse to the idea of exploring a deeper relationship with him. _

_ Well then, if Chloe missed her chance with her, then maybe she could take a chance with _ him _ . _

_ That’s right. She also noticed that their military escort, Chicago Walp, was quite taken with her as well. Except for the stupid name, he was pretty well perfect. Polite, handsome, athletic, a representative and protector of their country. _

_ They could work. They could become an “item”. _

_ This is why the flame-haired singer found herself ignoring Beca‘s calls after her and walking straight up to the soldier. She grabbed him by his tie and pulled him down for a searing kiss, which he eagerly reciprocated. He even went as far as to dip her like in a cliché movie-ending scene. _

_ It was perfect. But no, it wasn’t. _

_ It just didn’t feel right. There was no spark. No fire. She didn’t think there would be, but she was hoping that it’d distract her from her thoughts about Beca. It didn’t work. In fact, it only made it worse because now all she could think about instead of how plump Chicago’s lips were was how sweet and soft Beca’s would be. _

_ “Chloe?” a soft voice interrupted, forcing the two to break apart. _

_ The redhead turned towards the sound, pulling away from Chicago. The sight that she was met with cracked her heart into two and instantly filled her with regret. _

“What the fuck have I just done?”

Looking back now, Chloe couldn’t get the image of the soft lips she’d been dreaming of twisted into a deep frown or the navy-blue irises she’d grown to love being blurred by accumulating tears out of her head. It hurt even more knowing that she was the cause of this heart-breaking look of despair mixed with longing.

She quickly realized that she shouldn’t have ignored Beca. She shouldn’t have kissed Chicago (it hadn’t ended up working out anyway. He was always away, being in the army and all. Well, that and the fact that she was in love with her best friend). She shouldn’t have made what should’ve been a perfect night the night of some of her biggest regrets.

Chloe’s self-pitying was interrupted by the ironically cheery ringtone coming from her phone. The device started playing a very familiar voice rapping a section of Vodka Cran and the redhead instantly knew who was calling without even having looked at the screen yet.

“Hey, Bree,” she sullenly greeted the caller after having accepted the call.

“Hey, Chlo,” Aubrey returned in an attempted optimistic tone, not taking any offence to the glum one that she was immediately addressed with.

The blonde knew how difficult this past month had been for her best friend, so she was always very sympathetic towards her. Today especially, since she knew about what the date meant to Chloe.

“Um, so Stace, Jess, and I are going to the bar on Park. Wanna join us?” Aubrey offered kindly.

“Uh, I don’t know, Bree. You know today isn’t really a partying kind of day for me,” the flame-haired woman hesitated.

“Yeah. Yeah, no, I know, but, um, maybe hanging out with your friends will help take your mind off of her for at least just a little while. Come on, please. At least one drink,” the blonde pressed, not wanting her best friend to be alone on such a sad day for her.

Chloe sighed, running a hand through her fiery locks.

_ “What do I have to lose anymore?” _

“Yeah, sure. I guess. One drink. I’ll see you guys there,” she conceded.

“Great! Great,” Aubrey replied a bit too enthusiastically. She hadn’t thought the slightly shorter woman would’ve actually agreed. “We’ll see you in like fifteen, yeah?”

“Yeah. See you, Bree,” Chloe confirmed before ending the connection.

Luckily, on her aimless walk, she’d ended up just about two blocks away from the street that she needed.

It took her only ten minutes to reach the corner of 29th and Park. She spotted her friends from across the street through the front window, sitting at a window booth and chatting and assumably waiting for her.

Pushing the pedestrian walk button, she patiently waited for the light to change.

That’s when she saw her. Them.

_ “Chloe,” Beca repeated in a tone of shock and disbelief. _

_ “Yeah, Becs?” Chloe responded in an attempted nonchalant fashion. _

_ “‘Yeah, Becs?’ What? Are you fucking kidding me right now? You just finish sucking faces with Captain America over here right in front of me and that’s all you have to say to me right now?” the small brunette says. _

_ “Beca, I—“ the redhead started to apologize. _

_ She wanted to tell her that she was so sorry. That she regret kissing Chicago. That she wished it had been her. But then came Theo, jogging over like a freaking knight in shining armour, and she cut herself off before she said anything more. _

_ “Hey, what’s going on?“ the brown-haired Brit asked before taking in his newest client’s heartbroken expression, “Whoa! What—Hey, Beca, what happened?” _

_ Theo’s sudden presence made Chloe scoff and laugh bitterly, which caught everyone’s attention. _

_ “What? What is it, Chloe? What was that for?” Beca demanded. _

_ The redhead shook her head, looking down, and said, “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” _

_ She was mad. More than mad, Chloe was enraged. Not exactly at Beca but at Theo. She didn’t really know what for. For cutting into business that wasn’t his? For not keeping quiet? For stealing all of Beca’s time from her throughout this entire trip? She had no idea, but what she did know was that him being there pissed her off and her anger just ended up being taken out on her undeserving best friend. _

_ “Look, Beca, I don’t know why you’re upset right now. It’s not like we were ever together or ever would be. I’m not cheating on you. I wanna see where things go between Chicago and me. Besides, you’ve got Theo here. Why don’t you just try the same with him?” _

_ “Looks like she took my advice,” _ Chloe bitterly thought as she watched Theo open the door to the bar for Beca and himself and lead her in with an arm around her waist, _ “The universe just really fucking hates me today, doesn’t it?” _

The redhead was brought back to reality when people started brushing past her in order to cross the road before the counter ran out and the light changed again.

With a sigh, Chloe started walking and entered the same building as the two brunettes.

The second she stepped through the door, she spotted her friends, who were waving her over from their table. She also found her (former? Yeah, probably) former best friend and what she assumed was her date sitting on the benches at the counter and happily chatting away, two huge smiles on both of their faces.

With another sigh, Chloe made her way over to her friends and slid herself into the booth beside Jessica and opposite Aubrey.

“Chloe, hey! How’ve you been? No one except for Aubrey‘s seen you since like the end of the USO Tour,” the blonde from her left greeted her.

“Longer for me since I couldn’t go, which means I want extra Chloe time,” the leggy brunette diagonal to her jokingly pointed out.

“Heh. Uh, yeah, I know. It’s been a while. I’ve just been super busy,” the redhead replied, somewhat distantly, which her friends noticed but tried to ignore in order to keep things light.

“Yeah, no. No worries. We get it. The busy and exciting life of vet school and all,” Stacie lightly quipped, “So, how’ve you been?”

Of course they all knew that she wasn’t exactly doing amazingly. They were her best friends. Plus, Aubrey was her confidante and the scholarly blonde would never leave them in the dark about Chloe’s well-being. However, she still asked to try to get the ball rolling on a conversation.

“Um, well, I…” the flame-haired woman began, but she trailed off when her eyes started to wander behind Aubrey and landed on the girl she’d longed to see for an entire month.

She was laughing along to something that Theo must’ve said and half-heartedly punching him in the stomach with a light blush in her cheeks, which did not go unnoticed by the redhead.

Chloe couldn’t help but admire the way she laughed. Her mouth was open wide with her perfect, pearly white teeth on full display, her cheekbones were lifted, her head was tilted back a little, and her eyes were shining with amusement. She missed when it was with her that Beca wore this expression.

It seemed Chloe’d been watching for too long because the three other heads at her table turned to pinpoint her stare. They all grew awkward and tense at what they found, knowing what had happened between the two.

It wasn’t that they were mad at either girl or that they had picked sides, they just were pretty well caught in the middle here. Between understanding that Beca obviously liked Chloe for so long and the redhead was just completely oblivious to the fact and that Chloe was tired of waiting for someone who she never thought would reciprocate her feelings, they could easily figure out why the whole mess had transpired.

The three girls looked back at their ginger friend to see that her eyes were watery and downcast.

“Hey, Chlo,” Aubrey sympathetically said, gaining her former college roommate’s attention, “You’re gonna be okay. I know it’s still hard to see her and even harder now that she’s been with him for a little while, but we’re here for you. Always.”

“Yeah,” Stacie added, “Either she’ll get tired of him and dump him, then you’ll work everything out between you two or you’ll find someone else who maybe you’ll end up liking more than her. Either way, you’re gonna be happy again.”

“And until then, we just have to be happy that she has someone to make her smile like that and we’ll try and do the same for you,” Jessica pitched in.

“Right. Sure,” Chloe agreed unconvincingly and nodded, “Thanks, guys. So, what have you all been up—”

The redhead tried to take her turn at starting a conversation, but she was cut off by a weird, strangled sound coming from the blonde to her left, which earned her everyone’s attention and some strange and confused looks.

Jessica didn’t verbally respond, but she subtly pointed with her eyes somewhere behind the two girls on the opposite side of the booth.

They all once again turned and discovered the reason for the slightly shorter blonde’s reaction. Theo was leading a somewhat reluctant Beca towards them by the hand and they were only about ten feet away now.

It wasn’t that the small brunette didn’t want to see her friends. She just wasn’t quite ready to face her former crush again after the disappointment backstage at the end of the USO Tour, but the stupid Brit thought it would help with their friendship, so that’s how she found herself awkwardly standing in front of the other Bellas’ table.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” Theo casually greeted his latest client’s best friends.

“Oh, hey, Theo, Beca! Nothing much, just having a little girls’ night out. What about you guys?” Jessica responded, playing dumb as if they‘d had no idea that they were in the same building until now.

Beca uncomfortably glanced at Chloe before telling her fellow Bellas, “We, um, we’re on a…uh, a date. We’re celebrating. It’s been one month since DJ Khalid signed me.”

“So, that means that you two are…” _ really _, “together?” Chloe tried to ask as casually as possible, motioning to their conjoined hands (yes, their fingers were intertwined).

“Yeah, that’s right. That’s the other thing we’re celebrating too. One week with this lovely lady,” the Brit answered, pecking his girlfriend on the cheek, who blushed a bit and shyly smiled, biting her bottom lip.

“Congratulations, guys!” the four girls exclaimed, the redhead’s involuntarily less enthusiastic and genuine.

“Would you two like to join us or something?” Stacie instinctively offered.

She was raised to be polite. Sue her!

“Yeah, sure. You don’t mind, do you, DJ?” Theo asked the shorter brunette.

_ “Oh, so you have a nickname for her now, don’t you? Well, so do I…er, um, did.” _

“Y-yeah. No, I mean no. I don’t mind at all if it’s all good with you guys,” Beca replied, still eyeing her former crush/best friend to make sure she was okay with the idea. She didn’t really look it.

After confirmation, the couple pulled up some chairs for themselves (yes, the Brit pulled one up for his girlfriend) and the group started chatting, except for two.

“Um, I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” Beca quietly excused herself, needing a little breather from all of the tension.

Of course though, she wasn’t that lucky because before she even stood up, Chloe excused herself too and followed the shorter girl towards the bathrooms.

“Beca, can we talk please?” the redhead practically begged once they were away from the table.

“What about?” Of course she knew what Chloe wanted to talk about, but she wasn’t exactly looking forward to that conversation.

“Beca, you know,” the older woman said, “Look, Becs,”—Beca clenched her jaw a bit at the nickname that she hadn’t been called in so long and also at the feeling of déjà vu since last time the redhead spoke these words, she said something that completely broke her—“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said or done what I did after the USO Tour. It was your first solo…ish performance and I ruined it and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. It was stupid. It was inconsiderate. It was selfish. It-it was—“

“I forgive you,” the small brunette softly interrupted.

Chloe swore her heart stopped for a second there.

“What?”

“Chlo, I was never mad at you. Yeah, I was hurt by what you said, but you were right. I had no right to be upset over you…kissing him. We were never together and you couldn’t have known about the feelings I had for you,” Beca said with a shrug, “I should be the one apologizing.”

_ “Had?” _

“I guess we both kinda screwed up that night,” the ginger stated with a light chuckle, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” the shorter Bella admitted, “Can we just move on from that night? Please?”

“Of course, Becs,” Chloe agreed, finally doing what she wanted, which was pull the younger woman into a tight hug.

When they released each other, the redhead was so happy to finally have her best friend/crush back, but then she instantly became deeply disheartened when she remembered something—someone.

“So, you and Theo? One week?” the older Bella asked.

Beca caught the tinge of disappointment in Chloe’s tone and tried to make her feel better while still being truthful.

“Chlo, he was there for me when…when you weren’t and he really went above and beyond to make sure I was becoming comfortable and getting settled with this whole process of starting to put my name out there. He’s been so sweet and I really like him. Besides, what about Chicago?”

“We didn’t work,” the ginger simply stated.

“I’m sorry that you and he didn’t make it,” the shorter woman sincerely said, “but as you can see, Theo and I did.”

The redhead inhaled deeply. She didn’t like that answer. She hated it. She knew she shouldn’t have expected Beca to immediately redevelop feelings for her after they made up, however, she was still hoping that there was maybe a small chance. But of course not, that wasn’t how emotions worked and Chloe was going to have to accept that.

“As long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” the flame-haired Bella told Beca with as much sincerity as she could muster.

It was so cliché that it was painful, but it wasn’t a lie. She did genuinely want her to be happy, she just wished that it could be with her.

The small brunette knew that Chloe was just saying that for her benefit, but she accepted the statement and the two returned to their friends, feeling ten times better than when they’d left them.

* * *

Chloe sighed as she entered her apartment. It was the one that she used to share with Beca and Fat Amy, but obviously the two had moved out, Beca with their fallout and Amy with her new inheritance.

She’d rearranged the room a bit with all of the new space. She took over Amy’s section and added a temporary wall. She finally had an actual bed after three years and it was all to herself. Not that she minded sharing with Beca. At all.

God, it was so difficult for her when Beca announced that she was leaving. Even afterwards, with all of the DJ’s stuff gone, the place still smelled of her delicious perfume.

_ “What? Why?” Chloe softly demanded. _

_ “Chloe, come on. You know this is best for us. After what happened in Europe, I think we just need some time…and space,” Beca told the older woman as she continued packing her things. _

_ “Becs, I can hardly call that a fight. We just…had a little moment of confusion about who’s with who, but that doesn’t mean that you have to move out,” the redhead said. _

_ “Chloe, honestly I just really don’t want to be around you right now. What you said to me in Europe, it broke me more than you think. Nobody’s ever hurt me like you hurt me and I just—I can’t…”—the small brunette’s tone wasn’t angry like it should’ve been. It was more sad and defeated—“I think we just need to be apart for a little while.” _

_ She zipped up her last suitcase and heaved it off of the bed. She then took her apartment key out of her pocket and placed it into the bowl on the little table near the door and left. _

_ “Bye, Chloe.” _

Chloe hurt Beca. She understood that now. She’d never understand how much she hurt her, but she knew that it was a lot. Enough for her to move out. Enough for her to cut ties with her. However, they were trying to get back to being best friends again, so they were on the path of improvement.

Unfortunately, it was _ just _ as best friends and nothing more like Chloe had hoped for after making up with Beca. She couldn’t help but think that if it weren’t for Theo, they’d have maybe made up into something more.

For now though, she would just have to smile and pretend to be happy for them and maybe if things don’t work out between them…well, who knows?

* * *

Okay, Chloe thought that Beca and Theo would last maybe two more weeks. No, it’s been five freaking months now that they’ve been together and to say that the redhead was down about it was the understatement of her entire year.

She spent four months and three weeks smiling at them, laughing with them, watching them do “couple” things. It reminded her of when Beca was with Jesse for three and a half years except worse. She honestly didn’t know how much more she could take. Especially since it seemed like the Brit had grown less interested in his girlfriend.

The first few weeks, they were practically inseparable. Attached at the hip (hands more so since they were constantly conjoined). He would give her little pecks on the cheek almost every five minutes, hold her by the waist, say or do anything to make her laugh or smile, etc. It was annoying as hell, but at least it showed that he really cared about her.

Nowadays, he’d lead her around by the hand as if she was just an accessory for him to show off and Beca deserved better than that. But hey, she still seemed to be really into him, so Chloe couldn’t really do shit. Though she still wished so badly that she could. Especially now as she watched him talk with some of his buddies.

It was a party. Sort of. More of a get-together by the looks of it with some more British guys around Theo’s age. Probably some of his old buddies from England. She couldn’t really tell, but as a faraway observer, that’s what seemed to be going on.

Before you get the wrong idea, no, Chloe was not sitting there, torturing herself on purpose. She coincidentally decided she was in the mood for a drink the same night that Theo had planned a reunion with his British buddies and Beca was forced to tag along.

The redhead had seated herself far from them. On the opposite side of the room actually (again not on purpose. She just hadn’t noticed them and fortuitously ended up sitting in the opposite corner of the bar.)

Chloe’d only had a single bottle of beer, losing the mood for alcohol when she noticed the drastic dynamic change in the couple, and she was now toying with the empty bottle. She slowly and gently slid it, spun it, and tapped it on the table. Anything to distract her, but nothing seemed to work. Her focus was still trapped on the girl of her dreams as she watched the group for the past twenty minutes.

The ginger seethed as she noticed that not once did anyone, not even Theo, even try to include her into their conversations. It made her heart ache for her best friend/crush. She was just sitting on Theo’s lap with his arm lazily wrapped around her like a trophy, being completely ignored, while this group of around six guys who she probably didn’t even know and who didn’t know her carelessly chatted amongst themselves.

They were so self-absorbed that they hadn’t even noticed when Beca had spotted Chloe sitting in the corner and that they had been communicating non-verbally since the flame-haired woman had sat down. Just exchanging little glances or funny faces.

Eventually Chloe had gotten really tired of watching Theo be such a dick to his girlfriend and just tired in general, so she left with an apologetic and sympathetic smile towards Beca.

The redheaded Bella arrived home by 12:15 am, immediately got ready to sleep, and just plopped down onto her bed with a long, tired sigh.

She was deep asleep and caught in a fantasy dream with a certain brunette (no, there was no sex. It was PG-13 and it was very cute and sweet) when she was abruptly awoken by three soft and timid knocks on her apartment door.

Chloe reluctantly picked her head up and groaned, wondering who the hell was interrupting her dream and knocking on her door at…2:45 in the morning. Whoever it was, they’d better have a damn good excuse.

The ginger somehow carried herself out of bed and made her way over to the door, turning a light on in the process. She peered through the peephole and was surprised by what she saw.

It was the very subject of her dream donning watery, red, and puffy eyes, tear tracks running down her cheeks, and her arms wrapped self-consciously around herself.

_ “What the fuck?” _

As quickly as she could, Chloe unlocked and opened her door and ushered the younger woman inside, tenderly cupping her face to softly wipe at the tears.

“Becs, what the hell happened? Are you hurt?”

“Theo just broke up with me,” Beca answered simply.

“What? Why?” the redhead practically shouted.

The small brunette only shook her head and looked down in shame, refusing to meet her best friend’s eyes, but Chloe wouldn’t allow it. She gently pulled her face back up and silently asked again what was wrong.

Beca sighed and finally revealed, “Okay, well, you saw how drunk Theo was getting at the club, right? He pulled me out onto the dance floor and tried to…to do stuff, but I kept pushing him off. His friends started making fun of him and it set him off. He basically blew up on me, calling me a ‘fucking tease’ and other stuff, and then he dumped me literally right in front of the entire fucking crowd.”

The younger Bella had started crying again and she practically collapsed into Chloe’s warm embrace.

“Shh, it’s okay, Becs. You didn’t deserve that. It was a dick move on his part and he doesn’t deserve you. He was completely in the wrong. He was being disgusting and then he got mad because he couldn’t handle rejection and he unfairly took it out on you. You did nothing wrong,” the ginger comforted her friend, “You’re amazing and he never should’ve let you go. I made that mistake before and I regret it to this day.“

Chloe had dried all of Beca’s tears by now and she was slowly inching towards the younger woman, still holding her beautiful face.

Chloe couldn’t help but admire how gorgeous she was even in this state and she couldn’t ignore the spark of hope that ignited inside her.

It was finally happening. Theo and Beca were history and the chance to be with Beca had finally arisen. She momentarily acknowledged the fact that they literally just broke up and the shorter Bella was crying right now. She thought that maybe she should wait a little, but ultimately she just couldn’t. She decided to be a tiny bit selfish for tonight and take the chance that she’d missed earlier that year. This time, she’ll have learnt from her mistake. This time, she wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass her by.

“Can I tell you something?”

Beca nodded.

“I’m happy that you and Theo broke up.”

The small brunette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and offence.

“Because now I can do this without feeling guilty.”

And with those last few words, Chloe brought the younger woman’s face towards her, shifting an arm to wrap around her slight waist, and closed the distance between her crush and herself, their lips meeting in a tentative but loving kiss.

At first, Beca seemed surprised, but she quickly returned it whole-heartedly, wrapping one of her own arms around the taller Bella’s waist and her opposite hand around her neck in order to pull her in as closely as she possibly could.

In this moment, wrapped in each other’s embraces and displaying how much one loved the other, neither girl could remember ever being happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	2. Chloe (You're The One I Want) - Emblem3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you've noticed in all of the other stories based off of this song, the sister's always a bitch, right? And I guess the song kind of makes her out to be one as well, but when I thought of a person that everyone wanted, I thought of Stacie, but I didn't want to make her a bitch, so here's what I came up with. Hope you like it.

Chloe Beale loved her younger half-sister. She really did. They may not be 100% blood family, but their connection was more than strong enough to make up for that remaining 50% (or so). They were one of each other's best friends.

So then why was she so pissed off at her? Especially for something she couldn't really help?

Chloe could not for the life of her think of a single justifiable reason why as she watched the younger yet taller girl and the cute, new girl talk.

It was only the first day of school, the first time either of the Beale-Conrad girls have seen this girl, and yet they seemed so comfortable around each other. Of course, because everyone loved her younger sister, Stacie Conrad.

She was beautiful, intelligent, loveable, she had a model-like body. Literally everyone within their generation wanted her, so it made perfect sense why the new girl in town wanted her too.

Don't get it wrong, Chloe was very sought after as well. Anyone who got it would jump at the chance to be with her even for just a one-night stand. She just wasn't quite up there with Stacie. And it seemed the new girl instantly recognized that.

Although, she had been simply standing there and staring at the two for quite some time. Maybe she should try actually introducing herself to the girl instead of being the creepy stalker type.

Shaking her head to get into the zone before confidently striding over to the table that the pair was sitting at, Chloe gracefully slid onto the chair in front of the new girl and greeted both of them, "Stace! Hey! What's up? Who's your new friend?"

"Chloe, this is Beca Mitchell. She's new. She just started her sophomore year here," Stacie started the introductions, "Beca, this is Chloe, my older sister."

Beca was pretty damn adorable. She was a tiny one. Maybe something around 5'. Her hair was straight and the left side was pulled back. She had a couple ear piercings. A small, thick, black hoop with little spikes on it in her earlobe and a silver bar in her left ear and two, slightly more sophisticated, dangling piercings in her right earlobe. (_"Hot._") She was clad in a black, short-sleeved button-up with a little bit of lace at the collarbone, top half of her shoulders area, and all along her back; a red plaid skirt; and some black, high-heeled, glossy-leather boots. (_"Hotter."_)She looked badass and rebellious but still presentable and mostly appropriate for school.

"Hey…Um, not to be rude, but you two are sisters?" Beca cautiously asked, trying not to offend either of them however also assuming she probably wasn't the first one to question their relations to each other; the two looked absolutely nothing alike.

Stacie was a tall, chocolate-brown-haired sophomore with long, strong limbs while Chloe was a 5'4", flame-haired senior with a perfectly heart-shaped face.

"One mother, two fathers. We're half-sisters, but basically blood sisters," the tallest of the three stated.

"Ahhh. Well, it's cool that you guys are close, especially since you're half-siblings. If I had any kind of siblings, I'd probably hope for the same kind of relationship," Beca said.

"Yeah, we were lucky that we ended up connecting with each other instead of revolting one another. So, where are you from, Beca?" Chloe curiously asked the small brunette.

"Portland, Maine. Just moved in, like, yesterday, so you can believe that I'm super excited about having to come to school today," the new girl sarcastically replied, which made the other two chuckle a bit, "Uh, so it was awesome meeting you, Chloe. I hope I'll see you around and, Stace, I'll see you in Math, yeah?"

"Yeah! See you, Bec!" Stacie responded as the short sophomore stood up, grabbing her backpack, and headed off for her locker.

Once Beca was out of sight, Chloe slapped her sister on the bicep, hard enough to get her attention but soft enough for it not to leave a mark.

"Wha—dude!" Stacie exclaimed at the sudden blow to her arm, "The hell?"

"Why'd you have to go and meet the new girl first? I told you that _I_ wanted to meet her first," the redhead harshly whispered, although no one around them cared to listen at all.

The leggy brunette gave the older girl a look that screamed "You're absolutely crazy" and spoke slowly, "Okay. Let me get this straight. You smacked me…because I made friends with the new girl…before you?"

"Yes!" Chloe nearly shouted as if it were obvious, "I clearly remember pointing her out to you this morning and calling dibs and I know that sounds like something a complete douchebag would say but still."

A partly amused partly incredulous grin slowly formed on Stacie's face and she said, "Chlo, we literally just met in first and second period. And I mean, yeah, she's cute, but we're not into each other. We're legitimately just becoming friends, so by all means, take your shot. Anyway though, I have to get going too. I'll see you later, Chlo."

And then there was one.

The flame-haired senior sunk into her seat and pouted, ignoring the warning bell as she had a spare period right after lunch anyway.

It's not that she didn't think she could be with Beca, it's just that she knew that once Stacie had someone hooked, whether the taller girl knew it or not, there was no room left for her. And it wasn't just her head getting in the way of her heart, it was because she knew from experience.

Exhibit A: The first person she felt comfortable enough to introduce to her family. She was her lab partner from her first junior year biology project. They'd started chatting and found out that they had a lot in common. They started dating and eventually she invited her home for dinner and a movie with her and her family.

However, the entire time she was there, she couldn't stop talking to Stacie and ignoring the one who actually invited her there. She didn't even sit beside the redhead during supper nor the movie. She sat beside (yep, you guessed it) her half-sister.

Stacie, however, was super considerate about it. She kept trying to focus the girl's attention back on Chloe, to put as much distance between herself and the science partner as she could, and to subtly push her towards her classmate.

When the guest finally left, the Beale-Conrad girls had a little sleepover in Chloe's room and Stacie completely distracted her older sister from that night's disaster. Needless to say, she and her science partner broke up the next day.

Exhibit B: Chloe's junior year prom. Some hot, senior guy had asked her to be his date. He seemed so genuine when he was asking. He was awkward and shy and sweet. Guess he was just a really damn good actor.

Stacie had been asked out too and she'd accepted, so both girls ended up going to the prom, which they had no problem with.

Turns out the guy who had asked the leggy brunette out though was apart of Chloe's date's boy squad. He'd somehow gotten his friend to ask her out so that he could pick her up while there and he was just using the redhead as an excuse to talk to her.

Well, obviously Stacie was too good a person and sister to allow the guy to disrespect the older girl so much. When he'd asked her out, she asked a bunch of "What about Chloe?" questions and found out about their little plan.

The night ended with the moronic senior getting drenched with the entire bowl of punch courtesy of Stacie and the two half-sisters leaving and hanging out at their favourite café until midnight.

Because of both of these events, Chloe had a hard time believing that anybody would want her over Stacie and trusting when people showed any interest in her if they'd already heard of her sister. She'd learnt that everyone preferred Stacie over her, so why would it be any different with the new girl?

* * *

It's been three weeks since the Beale-Conrad girls had met Beca and both of them have already become really good friends with her.

Of course, Stacie had somewhat of an advantage since she shared over half of her classes with the small brunette, but they all hung out together whenever they could. Like this weekend for example.

It was Friday and the half-sisters had invited Beca, Chloe's best friends Aubrey Posen and Jessica Smith, and Beca and Stacie's new, freshman friend Emily Junk to hang out at their place because it was going to be a hot September weekend, they had a fairly large backyard that included a big, in-ground pool, and their parents were gone for the weekend. They had given them permission to have their friends over and had even left $100 for whatever food they'd need.

"Hey! There you guys are!" Stacie greeted her sister and her short friend, wearing a pure-white bikini, "Bree, Em, and Jess are already in the pool. Come on whenever you're ready."

The leggy sophomore then skipped off and jumped into the clear water, splashing all three of the other girls, who laughed before setting off for revenge.

Chloe and Beca had been held up a couple minutes because the former had some last minute TA duties that the vocals teacher had asked her to do and the latter needed just another extra five minutes or so to finish a paragraph in her first french, in-class writing assignment.

The two chuckled as they watched their four friends using the inflatable flutter boards as shields to protect themselves from the water assaults.

"Come on. Let's go get changed," Chloe said, leading the younger girl into the house to get into their own bathing suits.

When they came back out, they couldn't help but giggle at the scene that was unfolding.

The four other girls were wrestling to be the only one on the inflatable mat. Poor Emily was having her head used as a hand support, which meant that her face was being dunked right into the stream of water seeping onto the floating surface.

The pair who had yet to feel the cool pool water exchanged goofy smiles before joining in and, using teamwork, successfully shoved everyone else off of the mat.

Thinking they'd claimed ultimate victory, they intertwined hands, lacing fingers, and raised them as if they'd just won some tag team sport in the Olympics.

Too bad they didn't realize that their four friends were making their way under the inflatable until _after_ they were being flipped off the mat and into the water.

* * *

After some more goofing around in the pool, the six girls were laying in the sun, Chloe, Stacie, and Aubrey on a lounge chair each and Beca, Emily, and Jessica on their towels on the ground.

Jessica was laying on her back, flipping through the pages of a Vogue magazine. Emily had fallen asleep, frontside down, on her towel from the heat of the sun and the fun they'd had earlier and had been covered up to make sure she didn't get a sunburn. Aubrey and Stacie were chatting quietly, but Chloe was pretty sure she heard something about Homecoming, which was on the following Thursday. The redhead herself was simply enjoying the peacefulness and Beca…come to think of it, she didn't know what the small brunette was doing exactly.

She opened her eyes to check on her and cover her up if she happened to have fallen asleep as well, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

Beca was very much awake and seemed to have been staring at something in Chloe's direction, but she'd quickly looked away before she could tell exactly what it was she was looking at.

She then remembered that Stacie was laying right behind her in a very flattering bikini from the short sophomore's point of view and her stomach dropped a bit.

"It's okay, Becs," the flame-haired senior told her petite friend in a slightly disheartened tone, which earned her a confused expression that she thought was fake in order to cover up the fact that she'd been staring at her sister, "Everyone thinks she's beautiful. I mean, she is. You're allowed to appreciate that too. People even say that she could be on the front page of 'The best bikini bodies in all of LA' magazines."

"If I were the photographer, I'd put you there instead," Beca admitted, then blushed, thinking about how creepy a compliment that was, "Sorry. That-that was awkward and weird. I-I shouldn't have—I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just—"

"Calm down, Beca. Don't worry. Thank you for saying that," Chloe responded, still a bit down as she figured the small brunette had just said that to make her feel better.

She then re-closed her eyes and laid back down with a soft sigh, trying not to show how upset she was.

Little did she know, Beca's mouth was bobbing up and down slightly while she tried to think of something to say or some way to fix whatever it was she thought she'd messed up with the older girl. She unfortunately came up empty.

* * *

Later on in the evening, the temperature had dropped quite dramatically as it does in autumn, so the girls decided to have a little bonfire, except with Chinese takeout instead of hotdogs. Fuck tradition anyway.

Aubrey and Stacie had gone to get the food with some of the money that'd been left for them, Jessica and Emily were trying (and failing) to get the fire started down at the fire pit, Beca was hooking her laptop up to a speaker so that she could play some of her mixes (yes, she was an aspiring DJ/music producer and yes, the redhead found that pretty damn attractive), and Chloe was just finishing up setting up some nice candles on the deck railing.

"And…done," Beca somewhat apathetically announced to the older girl as she climbed the steps of the deck and looked over her little setup.

"Awes! I can't wait to hear your work!" Chloe responded in genuine excitement as she lit a match.

The small brunette chuckled, watching the ginger, and stated in a slightly amused voice, "You say 'work' as if my music's actually legitimate already."

Chloe paused what she was doing, stared directly at her petite friend, and asked, "Are you proud of your mixes? Or at least satisfied with them?"

"Well, I guess, but—" Beca started to answer, but she didn't get too far as she was interrupted by the flame-haired senior.

"Are they in any way related to your future career?" Chloe questioned, continuing to light the candles.

"Yeah, but—" the tiny DJ replied, not even having an argument this time.

"Did you put a lot of time and effort into them?" the redhead asked once more.

This time, Beca didn't verbally respond, knowing she'd already lost this battle. She only smiled a little and nodded.

"Then your work _is_ legitimate and I still can't wait to hear it," Chloe conclusively insisted, waving the match to put out the flame before lighting a new one to continue her path of candles.

The short sophomore hung her head, trying to hide a slight blush, then gestured towards the candles and asked, "What are you doing anyway? With all of these, I mean."

"Oh, um, I just like the mood that they create. The ambiance. I find them kind of calming. The light isn't quite as harsh as electronic lights and they make the air smell so nice," the redhead explained in kind of a dreamy voice.

"That's cute," Beca commented with a look of adoration towards Chloe, which she didn't quite seem to catch, "Uh, I mean, that's cool. That's…You're right. They're definitely working. Um, do you…do you want—do you need help?"—She awkwardly pointed at the other packet of matches—"I can…"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure," the older girl quickly replied, "Thank you."

"No problem," the small brunette said, copying her friend and lighting all of the candles and falling into a comfortable silence.

They ended up meeting in the middle once they both lit their last candle and all Chloe could think about was leaning over and pulling the younger girl into a kiss when she noticed how beautifully the light was reflecting off of her face. Little did she know, the other teenager wanted to do the same and she almost did, until—

"Hey, guys! Food's here!" Stacie suddenly announced, bursting through the sliding back door and inadvertently interrupting a little moment.

_"Dammit! I knew I should've put the shades up all the way,"_ Chloe thought, upset that she and Beca had to break apart but not angry with her half-sister because she couldn't have known as the blinds had been drawn enough to block her view of them.

The two girls by the still non-existent fire cheered and quickly joined everyone else around the patio table on the deck.

"We're so sorry and we should've mentioned this earlier, but neither of us knows exactly how to start a fire," Jessica stated, motioning between herself and the youngest of the group.

The leggy brunette chuckled and said, "No worries. Chloe and I will get it going in seconds. We can actually do it right now, right, Chlo?"

"Hm?" the redhead hummed, head shooting up having not been paying attention to the conversation as she was so lost in thinking about what could've happened between herself and the short sophomore, "Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Let's go."

The Beale-Conrad girls walked over to the fire pit together and started to build their base.

It was quiet for a moment, but it didn't last long at all.

"Did I interrupt something back there between you and Beca?" Stacie suddenly asked, feeling guilty because it seemed as though she had.

"What do you mean?" Chloe tried to dodge the question and continued to place balls of newspaper around the pieces of wood and twigs that her half-sister had set up.

"I did, didn't I? Shit. I'm so sorry, Chlo. I didn't mean to," the tall brunette sincerely apologized.

"It's okay. I don't think anything was gonna happen anyway," the ginger lied, lighting a match and setting fire to the mixture of wood and paper, "Besides, I think I saw her perk up when you got back, so…"

"Wh-what—Chlo, no, she didn't. I've told you already, she doesn't like me, she likes you. I can see it," Stacie tried to convince the older girl, "And anyway, don't freak out, but I like Aubrey. I've actually asked her to Homecoming and she said yes."

Chloe's head shot up as she put out the match and she excitedly exclaimed, "What? Really? Oh my god! That's awesome! You guys will be so cute together! What are you planning on wearing? Ooh! I really like the—"

"Chloe! Quit stalling and go up there and ask that girl to Homecoming!" the leggy sophomore sternly ordered but with a smile on her face, passionately pointing towards Beca as she was too busy talking to Jessica to notice.

"She's gonna say no, Stace, because she obviously wants to go with you even though you're already taken!" the redhead denied.

Stacie sighed, feeling incredible sympathy for her sister, and gently told her, "Okay. I can't force you to do anything, but I'm telling you Beca really likes you and she only likes me as a friend. You shouldn't miss out on trying something with people for fear of being overshadowed by me because, despite what you think, it doesn't always happen. I really wish you believed in yourself in the way I believe in you. If only you could see all of the beautiful things that I and she obviously see in you."

There was only silence that followed as Chloe tried to think of what to say in response to that, but before she could, Emily's voice suddenly shouted in excitement, "Hey! They did it! Come on, guys! Let's go sit by the fire!"

Soon enough, all six of the girls were huddled around the fire and sitting down onto some outdoor chairs to eat and talk.

"Here," Beca said, sheepishly holding a plate out to Chloe with some chopsticks, "I, uh, I didn't know what you like, so I just put a little bit of everything on there."

"No, this is perfect. Thank you, Becs," the flame-haired senior told the younger girl, accepting the dish from her and momentarily forgetting why she wasn't just going for it with such a sweet girl.

The small brunette smiled back, then joined in on the conversation, grinning widely at Stacie, which made Chloe's stomach drop again, exactly like earlier, near the pool.

_"Oh yeah. That's why."_

* * *

The night went on with the girls setting up for bed in the basement living room and putting a movie on, which most of them had fallen asleep during.

Chloe was laid out on the sectional couch and, knowing that she was the last one still awake, reached for the remote to turn the TV off. She then tried to get up to put the remote on the TV stand, which was its usual place so that it didn't get lost, but when she started to sit up, a quiet mumble stopped her.

"Mm, no. Stay," Beca, who was on the extended part of the sofa, muttered in her sleep, reaching up and wrapping an arm around the older girl's waist to keep her close to her.

It was only then that the redhead realized that there was only a blanket separating the small brunette's head from her shoulder. She felt kind of guilty for wishing that it wasn't there so that she could feel her petite friend's hair against her neck while she was asleep and unaware of what was going on.

Deciding not to disturb Beca (yeah, that's why), she placed the remote back onto the end table beside her. She then slowly readjusted herself into a position more comfortable to sleep in, but also one that allowed the tiny DJ to continue using her as a pillow.

Now, the younger girl's head was closer to her collarbone and if she was being honest, it felt so nice and so…right having her so close to her side.

Carefully and gently, Chloe moved her left arm behind Beca's back, as they were both lying on their sides, and rested her hand onto the slim waist, feeling her stomach flutter at the intimate position.

If only they could do this all the time. Preferably when they were both conscious.

* * *

Homecoming had arrived and neither counterparts of what Stacie had named Bechloe had asked the other out yet. Therefore, the tall brunette had taken the liberty of making the night a group kind of thing, even though she and Aubrey were each other's dates, to make sure that both girls attended.

For the most part of the night, Chloe, Stacie, Aubrey, Emily, and Jessica had dragged Beca out to the dance floor and forced her to dance with them. When a song came on that none of them liked, they would sit back at their table and talk, only to return once the songs ameliorated. So overall, it was a pretty decently fun night.

At last, the final dance came before they announced the homecoming queen and king. Of course, it was a slow song, so the girls except for Stacie and Aubrey went back to their seats.

Chloe however decided to go to a quieter corner of the room to people-watch as Emily and Jessica were engaged in a very enthusiastic debate about the show Glee. Something about which LGBTQ+ couple was better. Blaine and Kurt or Santana and Brittany?

She noticed how there were so many people, single or not, staring at her half-sister and her best friend wistfully. They were most likely jealous that they ended up together instead of with them and wishing that they were the ones slow-dancing with either of the girls.

"Hey," Beca said, walking up beside the redhead and gaining her attention, "So, the whole homecoming queen and king thing. Pretty cliché, right? Did you actually vote for people?"

"No. Well, not for the king, but I voted for Stacie for Queen. I mean, it's kind of inevitable anyway. Everybody says that she's the queen already," Chloe answered with a one-shouldered shrug.

"Well, that's basically you to me. A queen, I mean," the small brunette shyly and awkwardly complimented the older girl.

"Beca, why do you do that?" the flame-haired senior inquired, finding all of the tiny DJ's compliments incredibly sweet but also incredibly confusing.

She wasn't the only one who was confused and it showed on Beca's face when she asked, "Do what?"

"Say nice things to me only to make me feel better that I'm not like Stacie," Chloe replied in a slightly tired voice as if it was obvious.

Beca's perplexed expression only grew at this answer and she further questioned, "Why would you want to be like Stacie?"

"What girl wouldn't?"

The ginger was halfway to exploding at this point. All of her self-doubt and longing for Beca had been bubbling for almost a month now and she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"She's smart, she's beautiful, she's an amazing person, and she's got basically the entire school after her," Chloe listed all of her sister's attributes, "I mean, she's even got you hook—"

Beca didn't want to hear the rest of that sentence, so she surged forward and finally connected their lips, cupping the older girl's face, like both of them had wanted since meeting each other.

The ginger quickly returned the kiss and snaked a hand around to the back of the shorter girl's neck, both of them holding each other at the hips.

When they finally separated, they ignored the face-splitting smiles that their friends were sending them and the sound of the school's principal starting the Homecoming crowning, and Beca spoke in the most sincere tone Chloe'd ever heard.

"Look, I know you think that Stacie's got it all and, in a way, you're right. She has her intelligence, her looks, her personality, and now Aubrey. So yeah, she's awesome and probably the entire package, but so are you and you've got my heart and that's the only thing that matters, okay? And I know that sounds super cheesy, but it's true. You want to hear something else that's true? And probably cheesy."

The redhead nodded, smiling widely at the fact that she was finally getting her girl and at the adorable speech the short sophomore was giving her.

"I know you're sister…turns everyone on or whatever, but who gives a shit about them because, Chloe, _you're_ the one _I_ want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	3. Colour - MNEK ft. Hailee Steinfeld

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course I had to write one based off of one of Bechloe's aca-child's songs. This song allowed quite a bit of freedom since there isn't an incredibly strong storyline, so if you don't really see how the song and fic are connected, I can understand it. I still hope you like it though.

Devastating, smoke-grey clouds were swirling around in the sky above, however a single droplet of rain had yet to fall. Nevertheless, it still looked like a full-on storm could arrive at any moment.

The terrible weather however was a perfect reflection of Beca Mitchell's mood as she lay curled up on her bed in her dorm room at Barden University, reflecting on her time so far at her new school and more specifically the people she's come to know.

She's only been a Barden Bella for a single week and she was already regretting having let that crazy yet gorgeous redheaded girl persuade her into auditioning for her all-female, collegiate a cappella group in the first place. But who could deny someone with as much light and kindness as her?

It was such a huge contrast to her usual somber days. Nobody else had that kind of effect on her.

There was Stacie, who she probably already considered to be her best friend if not, then definitely one of them. However, she was currently, and most likely will for a very long time if not for the rest of their lives, dating the person who probably despised her the most in the entire state (okay, that's an exaggeration, but definitely the most disliked of all of the Bellas), General Aubrey Posen, leader of the Barden Bellas.

Fat Amy, she also considered to be one of her best friends, but man, was she quite a handful. They were polar opposites. Amy was a loud, outgoing, boisterous person who could make anyone laugh while Beca had a dark, gloomy, quiet, and brooding personality. She loved her, but it sure took a lot of her energy to be around the large blonde, so she really preferred her in moderate doses.

There was Jesse who was her best guy friend. Emphasis on the word "friend". He apparently however believed that they were going to end up like the movie characters who started out as best friends, then realized that their love for each other was more than just platonic. No. Not going to happen.

Lilly kind of creeped her out, just like she did with everyone else who could catch her borderline-serial-killer-like mutterings. And finally, Jessica and Ashley were such close friends and Cynthia Rose and Denise were a couple, so they inadvertently third-wheeled her.

The redhead, Chloe Beale, was the only one who truly made her feel better, but not even she could bring light to this particular day in her opinion. It was nearly impossible.

_Six-year-old Beca sat on the top step of the stairs at her house, discreetly listening to her parents' raised voices, resonating all the way from downstairs._

_She knew she was being naughty by sneaking out of her room well past her bedtime, but she was just so curious and they were just so loud. She couldn't deny the urge to find out what was going on anymore. The thunder and rain outside tonight were what was keeping her up in the first place anyway. Her parents were just adding to it._

_"You bastard!"_

_That was her mother's voice._

"Hm, new word. Wonder what it means."_  
_

_"You lying, cheating bastard!"_

"Were they playing cards again?"_  
_

_"You're an asshole! Oh my god! You're such an asshole! You are a ridiculous asshole!"_

"Really colourful language coming out tonight."_  
_

_"I can not believe you have the fucking nerve to drag your sorry ass back here after you were deliberately unfaithful to not only me but your own daughter too—your fucking family! In the middle of the crowded university campus, no less!" Elizabeth Mitchell yelled at her husband._

_"You weren't supposed to be there," Benjamin stated in a lowered voice, which prompted Beca to lean down a little more to be able to hear better and to be able to watch what was happening._

_"And that makes it okay?" the woman demanded._

_"No, of course not. I just—" he tried to reason with his wife, but she refused to listen to any of his bullshit._

_"You just thought I'd never find out," Elizabeth cut him off, finishing his sentence, which she knew was correct when he didn't respond and simply avoided eye contact. She sighed, running her fingers through her hair, and tiredly continued, "Go. Just go and don't ever step foot here again unless it's to gather every last piece of your shit. Go back to Sheila, alone. Just know that after this, you won't be seeing me again except to sign our divorce papers. And you'll be lucky if Beca will ever wanna see you again once she truly understands the damage of what you've done. Now get the fuck out of my house, Benjamin."_

That was the last time Beca saw her father until her first day at this stupid university.

She didn't see him on her tenth, sixteenth, or eighteenth birthdays (she'd been told each of those birthdays are apparently milestones). She didn't see him when she'd orchestrated basically all of the music, alongside her music teachers, for her school's play during her senior year. She didn't even see him when she got her acceptance letter for the school that he works for that she had applied to because he insisted she got a college degree, for free might he add, before going off to LA to pursue her dream that he didn't believe in.

Oh well. There was nothing incredibly special about those days anyway. At least, in her opinion. They were all just another day in her bleak, colourless life.

Eventually Beca grew tired of wallowing in her depressed state, so she reluctantly got out of bed and decided to take a walk around campus, despite the weather, with her headphones on.

She wasn't surprised when she saw very few other people out at the moment. In fact, she was grateful for it. She wasn't exactly a people person.

The small brunette arrived at a fountain in the park closest to campus and that's when the surprise appeared.

There, sitting on a bench by the decorative, aquatic structure, was Chloe Beale.

"Chloe?" Beca greeted the other Bella in confusion, stopping her music and pushing her headphones down to her neck, "What are you doing out here?" She then added somewhat mockingly, "And are you seriously reading The Grapes of Wrath while eating grapes?"

She couldn't help but find it ironic. The biggest dreamer she knew was reading a realist novel.

Chloe, in response, casually gazed up from her book towards the younger woman, smiling a bit smugly, and replied, "Hadn't noticed. And I could ask you the same. At least I brought an umbrella."

She motioned towards the open umbrella cleverly rigged to the back of the bench.

"Touché," the tiny DJ admitted with a slight smirk.

She then gestured towards the empty spot beside the redhead, silently asking if she could sit, at which the older girl moved her container of purely green grapes to her lap and copied Beca's movement.

"So, how's the book?" the small brunette asked, swiping a couple of the other Bella's fruits.

Chloe watched her, shaking her head with an amused smile, and answered, "Well, I'm only about a quarter in, but let's just say it's a classic for a reason." She then glanced up at the sky and noticed, "Looks like we won't be needing this anymore."

She reached back and untangled her umbrella and closed it, setting it on the opposite side of her from where Beca was sitting.

The petite freshman looked up to the sky and realized that her friend was right. There were no more clouds of grey on their way and only clear skies ahead as far as they could see.

"Yeah, looks like it," Beca agreed, suddenly feeling more light-hearted than she ever had before. That is, if she actually remembered the last time she had that particular feeling. It kind of intrigued yet scared her.

_"Guess I might've been wrong about no one being able to make me feel better today."_

She internally shook her head and distracted herself by playfully stealing her friend's book from her and curiously questioned, "So, what's going on in here so far?"

* * *

It'd been about an hour that Beca and Chloe had been sitting on the bench, comparing classic literature novels and finishing off the latter's container of green grapes. The sky was clear and the area was becoming a lot more populated, much to the duo's dismay as it had become very difficult to have a nice conversation.

"Hey, do you wanna go somewhere more…private?" the redhead suggested, easily noticing the other Bella's not-so-subtle discomfort.

Beca's eyes widened slightly and she suddenly grew nervous, misinterpreting what Chloe was saying.

"Oh, no. Beca, relax. That's not what I meant," the older girl told her with a laugh, "There's this really beautiful spot that I love and that basically no one hangs around."

"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure," the tiny DJ agreed as she stood up, patiently waiting for her friend to gather her things and put them away into her purse.

Once she was ready, Chloe got up as well, took Beca's hand, and led her towards the forest that bordered the park. Her special spot was technically still within the park's perimeter, but it was just beyond the tree line.

The two strolled along the lawn, finding it easy to get back into conversation.

"What? I have not!" the redhead protested, playfully defending herself against the, in her opinion, false accusation.

"Yes, you have! You have completely demolished my reputation as a dark loner," the small brunette insisted but with joking smile, "Because of you, I'm dressing up as a freaking flight attendant and singing a capella with a bunch of crazy weirdos and actually leaving my room at least six times a week other than for class."

"Oh come on, the Bellas aren't that bad," Chloe vindicated her new second family.

She truly liked every single one of these girls and saw and felt something special about their group, Beca included.

"You're right," the tiny DJ agreed, momentarily allowing the older girl to think she had won before adding, "they're worse."

She didn't know why she was so insistent that the Bellas were horrible. They really weren't. Far from it and Beca knew that. She was just a dark, cynical person by nature and wasn't quite ready to let anyone see her glimmer of hope in this potential group of friends, full of colourful characters. Having hope has never worked out for her before, so why would it start now?

"Beca, you don't really believe that and I know it. I can tell," Chloe told her friend, "I can admit that Aubrey is a difficult person and that you two definitely aren't…the instant connection type of pair, but I have a feeling you guys will eventually become great friends. And I can already tell that you really like Stacie and Amy."

The petite freshman rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement and said, "Okay. Yeah, I think Stacie's pretty cool, but she's dating Aubrey, and Amy's fun, but I usually need a lot of energy to deal with her. Lilly's kinda creepy and the others…well, they have each other. They don't need me around"—she trailed off when she noticed that Chloe had stopped walking a little while ago—"Hey, why're we stopping?"

Was she finally tired of her pessimism? Was this the part where she made up some excuse to get away from her? Was this the end of what was a nice afternoon together only to irrevocably be ruined by her goddamn negativity?

"Because we're here," Chloe announced with a soft smile as she let her eyes wander.

It was just then that Beca had realized that their surroundings had shifted from a slightly populated park to a small, very secluded area bordered by beautiful cherry blossom trees. They were a mixture of delicate, bold, and relaxing pinks. Usually she wasn't a huge fan of that colour, but she couldn't help but love it there.

How they had walked through a bit of the forest to get to that point without the shorter woman noticing was beyond her comprehension. She had an inkling that it had a little something to do with the gorgeous redhead she'd been completely wrapped up in for the past few hours.

"Wow. This is…wow. I…How…" Beca was so amazed by the stunning place to finish a proper sentence, but luckily for her, Chloe understood what she meant to say.

"I found it on one of my morning runs. I decided to jog through the forest once and just stumbled upon it," the flame-haired senior recounted, "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Her only response was a nod as the other girl continued to admire the area.

"So what about me?" Chloe suddenly asked, regaining her friend's attention and earning a confused look, "Am I as cool as Stacie? Or as fun as Amy? As difficult as Aubrey? Or am I as scary as Lilly?"

"Well, I mean, you did barge into my shower and demand I sing your lady jam for you. I thought I was having a stroke and dreaming the entire thing for a little second there," Beca reminded the older girl.

"So you're saying you would dream of me?" the redhead teasingly asked, which made the petite freshman's cheeks flush an adorable shade of red.

"Imagining! I meant imagining!"—that didn't help to wipe the smirk off of her face—"Okay, hallucinating. I thought I might've been hallucinating when some crazy ginger decided to just invade my shower and force me to sing with her," Beca told her friend in an exasperated voice, "God, you're annoying."

"Only because I like it when you blush," Chloe stated nonchalantly.

"Wow, you're pretty forward, aren't you?" the tiny DJ said mockingly.

"You're right, I am," the flame-haired senior agreed, "Do you wanna go out with me?"

Beca's head shot towards Chloe and her eyes grew three sizes. "Like…like a date?"

"Uh, yeah," the ginger bluntly said, "Would you, Beca Mitchell, like to go on a date with me, Chloe Beale?"

"Oh…um…yeah," the small brunette stuttered out her answer with a funny, little smirk.

"Yeah? You sure?" Chloe asked, a grin of her own starting to appear on her face.

"Yeah," Beca repeated, the smile beginning to grow, "Yes, I, Beca Mitchell, would love to go out on a date with you, Chloe Beale."

"Awes!" the redhead excitedly exclaimed, grabbing a hold of the other girl's hand, as the pair began their walk back to their dorms, "I'll pick you up tomorrow at 7:00."

* * *

"Oh my god…"

"What?"

"What. The hell. Is this?"

"What? I told you I'd pick you up at 7:00."

"Yes, but you failed to mention that you'd be picking me up in Apollo's freaking sun chariot. Jesus, I need sunglasses just to look at it."

Of course Beca knew better than to assume Chloe would own a simple black car. She expected maybe a red to match her gorgeous hair or even baby blue to match her stunning eyes, but bright yellow? This girl was just full of surprises.

"Oh, come on. It's not that bad," the redhead defended her car.

"You look like Jay Gatsby," the small brunette deadpanned.

"Oh, shut up and get in," Chloe ordered in an exasperated tone.

Beca playfully rolled her eyes but nevertheless climbed into the passenger seat of her date's yellow Bumblebee-esque car.

"So, what have you planned this evening, m'lady," the petite freshman curiously asked, looking around the car's interior as the older girl drove.

"Oh, you'll see," Chloe mysteriously replied, smiling to herself.

"We're going on a hike and a picnic," Beca stated rather than questioned.

The flame-haired senior's smile faltered a bit, but she still attempted to remain enigmatic. "Maybe. You'll just have to wait and find out."

"Chloe, you told me to wear something comfortable and breathable, to wear sneakers, and there's a backpack, which probably has the food in it, hidden under that blanket behind my seat, which is probably a picnic blanket. Unless you're taking me on a jog or to the gym, which would be the weirdest first date ever, we're going on a hike on a pretty trail you found at some point," the small brunette matter-of-factly predicted the evening.

"What the hell?" Chloe demanded.

"Are we gonna have one of those cheesy mountaintop picnics as we watch the sun set over Atlanta?" Beca asked with a grin at having figured out their date.

"Oh my god! You're such an asshole!" the ginger exclaimed, upset that her surprise wasn't actually going to be a surprise.

"Chloe, calm down! Honestly, I don't care what we do! I just wanna spend time with you!" the tiny DJ quickly tried to make it up to the taller girl, worried that she'd just ruined their date before it had even really started.

"Good, because we're gonna have the absolute best and freaking cheesiest 'hike/mountaintop picnic while watching the sunset' date ever!" Chloe determinedly declared, letting Beca know that she wasn't angry which made her laugh.

She was upset that the date idea wasn't going to be a surprise, but she wasn't mad about it. She was actually very impressed that the younger girl had been able to predict almost the entire plan for the date. Almost.

* * *

"Okay, now I know you think you got the entire date all figured out, but there's a couple things you missed," Chloe revealed as they approached their final destination after about an hour and a half of walking and just talking to each other.

She'd already succeeded in surprising her date by leaving the blanket in her "Great Gatsby car". It really had been just to hide the backpack, which she'd soon learn was completely empty, another little trick.

"What? Really?" Beca exclaimed in surprise.

_"What else does this girl have up her sleeve? A white horse?"_

"Yep," the redhead confirmed as they rounded a wall of boulders, "This."

The tiny DJ's breath hitched as she looked at the layout in front of her. Just as she'd predicted, there was a little, open area overlooking a large portion of the illuminated city of Atlanta. However, she didn't think there would already be a nice picnic blanket with a waterproof bottom spread out with a real, wicker picnic basket and another, folded blanket on it. Nor did she expect to see pretty lines of fairy lights strung up on the surrounding trees. More cherry blossom trees no less.

By the time she'd processed the scenery, Chloe was settled down on the blanket and tossing the empty backpack to the side. She looked back up at her date and playfully smoothed out the wrinkles in the spot beside her.

Beca smirked and made her way towards her date and sat down. She laughed when Chloe pulled out none other than the same Rubbermaid container as the day before, refilled with only green grapes. She also pulled out a container of cherries ("Really?" "Shut up."), a container of hot pasta, and some garlic bread wrapped in tin foil.

"Thank you, Chlo, for all of this. You know, no one's ever gone through this much effort for me, except for my mom," Beca shyly admitted.

"Are you calling me your mother?" Chloe joked.

"Oh, shut up, you dork!" the small brunette lightly shoved the older girl with a chuckle, "You get what I'm trying to say."

"I hope I do because otherwise it would be inappropriate if I was about to ask you if you'd be my girlfriend," the flame-haired senior casually said, "Also illegal."

Beca laughed and replied, "I'd love to be your girlfriend."

"And I'd love to be yours," Chloe responded before leaning in to give her new girlfriend a kiss.

Beca couldn't help but admire the taller girl's beauty as she got closer to her. Especially the way the fairy lights around them made her hair look like a pure, red-hot fire.

Without hesitation, the tiny DJ closed the last inch of distance between them and enthusiastically reciprocated her first kiss with her amazing new girlfriend, feeling happier than she ever had before.

She would never forget the feeling of having lived in a dark, bleak life. However, after having ridden in a bold-yellow "Bumblebee" car so that she could be sitting beside a gorgeous flame-haired girl under pink, fairy-light-covered cherry blossom trees, sharing a container of green grapes, she couldn't help feeling like the grey clouds that had been following her around all the time were gone for good. Only Chloe was able to brighten up her black-and-white world and now she only saw in bright and beautiful colour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	4. BOY - Charlie Puth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay…well, I don't know if this is one of my bests in terms of connections between the song and the fic, but it's sort of what I thought of when I listened to the song a couple times. Well, kind of. I actually initially thought of Chloe before Stacie, but I thought that Stacie matched the girl in the song, her personality, better and I kind of like how it turned out (for the most part…I think?). Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Beca whirled around in her desk chair in surprise when she heard her bedroom door open and slam closed. She watched her best friend/roommate plop down onto her bed and haphazardly throw an arm over her face, groaning in frustration.

She turned to save her progress on her latest mix, shut her laptop, and remove her headphones, then turned back to face the taller girl.

"Boys fucking suck," Stacie bluntly stated when she heard the other girl finish preparing to listen to her complain about her life, arm slightly muffling her voice.

"They do," Beca agreed, "Guessing the date didn't go very well? I mean, you're back before 8:00, so…"

"Actually, it was pretty good, but, uh, he failed to mention when I first met him that he was in the army," the leggy strawberry-blonde said, moving her arm so that she could speak clearly, "and, uh, I have no intention or desire to become an army girlfriend or wife, so…yeah, no."

"Plus he has a fucking stupid name," the small brunette bluntly added in a flat tone.

Stacie chuckled at her friend's remark. "Okay, yeah, true."

"I still can't believe you went on a date with a guy whose parents hate him enough to name him fucking 'Chicago'," Beca told her friend as she moved to slump down onto her bed in order to be closer to her, lifting up her long legs and resting them onto her lap.

Stacie shifted around to cross her arms and look down at the petite girl, clicking her tongue in light disappointment, and defended herself and her former date, "Don't be mean. He was hot, he was nice, he looked like a good lay"—_He looked like a total tool _(Beca received a light slap for that one)—"He seemed like he'd be the perfect boyfriend to finally get my parents off my fucking back, but he's so not worth going through the whole thing of, you know, waiting months or even years only to see him for just like two weeks at a time."

"Seriously, they need to lay off of you. What's the big deal about not having a serious significant other? I don't understand parents who think they can control even just the smallest things in their kids' lives," the tiny DJ commented.

"I know right. It's ridiculous. It's gotten to the point where I don't tell them when I meet a guy or else they'd start planning a wedding and looking for houses after a single interaction," Stacie said.

"Yeah, that and because literally all of the guys you go out with end up being added to your long list of one-night stands and your parents would be absolutely affronted that their little angel is sluttin' it up all over the city," Beca added with a funny expression at the end, her head slightly turned, her eyebrows high and her mouth wide open in a grin.

The leggy strawberry-blonde half gasped half laughed, got up to sit next to her friend, and slapped her again.

"Shut up, you dick! Rude. And the list is not _that_ long."

The small brunette straightened, turned her entire body to face the other woman who copied her, and raised a challenging eyebrow as if she'd just been dared.

"Unicycle. The weird guy with the huge afro who was nicknamed after his unicycle because he was constantly carrying it around even though he could barely ride it. Your first college lay. Drunken Bellas initiations. Before General Posen was leader and came up with the anti-Treble shagging law."

"Aha! Oh yeah, you had to suffer that rule. I was already out by then. Thank God. You were constantly getting cock-blocked with Jesse, yeah?" Stacie joked.

The taller woman was five years older than Beca. They had gone to the same college, Barden University in Atlanta, Georgia, and had joined the same all-female, competitive a cappella group called the Barden Bellas, which was how they knew each other. They just hadn't attended the school at the same time and had instead met through one of their best friends, Chloe Beale.

Chloe was only three years older than Beca, meaning they had attended Barden at the same time and were even seniors together because the older girl had intentionally failed Russian Lit three years in a row so that she could stay with the Bellas. She had introduced the two at a big reunion back when the small brunette was a freshman and they had clicked instantly, become best friends, and moved into an apartment together in Brooklyn, New York almost half a year after the younger woman graduated.

"You know that I've never wanted to sleep with him, but that's besides the point! This is about your sexual life, not mine!" Beca denied, her left index finger taking the brunt of her gesticulating to emphasize her words and her cheeks turning pink just talking about her limited intimate life.

"Which is basically nonexistent," Stacie teased in an innocent voice, which earned her an exasperated glare.

"Anyway, I was building a counterargument here," the tiny DJ only continued when her friend raised her hands in mock defence, "Thank you. Okay. Donald Ambudkar. Another Treble. After a riff-off in the old pool."

"Okay, his voice sounded pretty sexy singing 'Let's Talk About Sex'," the older woman justified.

"Yeah, okay"—Beca rolled her eyes—"Uh, Luke Stroma. My old boss at the WBUJ Radio Station. He remembered you and your night together, so I guess that's a… good testament to your skills. At least the one-time thing was mutual that time though."

"True," Stacie agreed and shrugged.

"Howie Kelly. A frat dude you got drunk with at a party after a Bellas performance at their frat house."

"Of course. No collegiate sexual experience is complete without a frat boy."

"Ri-i-ight. Uh, Tom Stewart. At least this one actually got a date. A double date but a date."

"Yeah, but it was at a fucking arcade and he was more into the games _and_ Chloe than me. Still good in bed though."

"Nice. Frank Lyon. One of the other Residual Heat interns. Asked you out when you were picking me up from work."

"Oh yeah, he was sweet, but he was so awkward doing it."

"Mm, that's gross. Okay, um, Andrew Fitzpatrick. Beatboxer from DSM. You're damn lucky that Chloe never found out about that one. Drunken one-nighter after the riff-off at the creepy dude's house."

"Hey, you invited me and I wasn't the one competing against them. Also, he was the hottest out of that group, so."

"Fair enough. And now this Chicago dude," Beca finally concluded, "Do you need any more? Because there were a couple more Trebles you did. Really into a capella guys, huh?"

"Only when drunk," Stacie countered.

"Then there's like a bunch of other random strangers—" the small brunette tried to continue, but the older woman cut her off.

She didn't know why, but Beca was actually sort of glad? Relieved? Whatever, she appreciated Stacie stopping her from continuing the list. It made her feel weird and uncomfortable for some reason, actually realizing just how many boys Stacie's been with. She just chalked it up to her not wanting to think of her best friend…getting it on with countless people.

"Okay, okay, I get it. I get around a lot," the leggy strawberry-blonde reluctantly conceded, "And I can't even turn the tables on you because you literally have no intimate life. Like, seriously, none whatsoever. You may as well still be little, innocent, ten-year-old Beca."

"Okay, exaggerate much?" Beca said, cocking an eyebrow and tilting her head.

Stacie imitated her best friend and elaborated in a manner much like the other woman had when she was listing her one-timers, "You've dated three people in your entire life.

"Jesse was your first significant other. You two never slept together. You dated for almost a year until the summer before your junior year. Getting back to school, you started questioning your sexuality because you realized you were attracted to Chloe.

"You two started dating about a month into school. You lost your virginity to her. You're such a cute, little late bloomer. Anyway, you two were adorable and stayed together until after you both graduated and won worlds. You broke up on mutual terms after like five months just because 'the spark' started to fade.

"The following year in February, you met a British music exec, named Theo Burnet, who works for DJ Khalid and who also happened to have a thing for you. He got you in as a musical artist/producer and you became coworkers, friends, and blah blah blah. You started dating like ten weeks after Khalid signed you. You had your first sexual experiences with a guy with him and dated for seven months until you realized you missed Chloe and, whoopdeedoo, she missed you too.

"You broke up with Theo for Chloe and dated up until last month where you, again, mutually ended it. You're still friends with all of them, which I admire a lot by the way 'cause I've never done that, and now you're single and ready to mingle!"

_"Of course that's where this was leading up to. Damn, she's fucking sly."_

"No," Beca refused, shaking her head vehemently, "No, we are not going out clubbing for you to find a new boy toy. I'm pretty sure that would actually be contradicting the whole 'boys fucking suck' statement."

"Oh, come on, Becs! You and I both deserve to have a little fun," Stacie urged the shorter woman to join her.

Both girls knew the older girl would never ditch her and would end up having another "Netflix and chill" night if she didn't win this battle, but she so badly wanted to go out.

"You know how little fun I actually have at clubs and I don't wanna go out," the small brunette whined, sprawling back onto her mattress and nearly kicking her friend in the shoulder.

She squealed loudly when there was a sudden weight dropped onto her, her arms were being pinned to either side of her head, and a voice was loudly stretching out the word "Please" for as long as it could into her ear, which was shockingly and impressively long.

"Argh! No! Stacie! Get off!" Beca shouted, failing to contain a smile at the taller woman's antics and struggling greatly to free herself from her strong hold.

"Please!" Stacie ignored the tiny DJ's yells and continued to beg for her to go clubbing with her.

"No way. I'm not going out tonight, especially not to be around a bunch of drunk idiots," Beca insisted.

When she got shot down again, the leggy strawberry-blonde went for a different approach that always worked. She didn't say anything and instead just stared at the shorter woman expectantly, which made the fight in her leave and now she was just squirming uncomfortably.

"Stacie, stop. That isn't gonna work again," the small brunette continued to refuse but less forcefully, only earning her a more intense expectant look, "You know this is technically peer pressure, right?"—Silence and more staring—"Ugh! Okay! Alright! Fine! We'll go out!"

"Yay!" Stacie cheered, leaning down to give her friend as big and tight a hug she could in their current position.

When she finally released the younger woman, they both froze, just then realizing how close they were to each other (the taller girl was basically laying on her) and that Stacie was situated pretty snuggly in between Beca's legs.

They both flushed red and Stacie awkwardly cleared her throat, getting up and pulling her best friend into a sitting position.

"Um…uh…s-so, I-I'm gonna, uh, go…get dressed. Um, you"—the leggy strawberry-blonde pointed at her and paused to pick out a proper outfit to go out in and tossed it to her—"You better be in this sexy, little number when I get back to do your hair and makeup."

Beca nodded wordlessly and watched the taller girl leave her room to get ready. When she heard the other woman's door close, the tiny DJ released a breath she didn't even know she was holding in and awkwardly looked around the room in slight shock. Her eyes landed on the corner of her carpet, her eyebrows furrowed, and her mouth bobbed slightly.

_"What. The fuck. Was that?"_

There was no way that she and Stacie just had some kind of moment, right? They'd been friends for years and, as far as she knew, there'd never been anything other than a strong, _platonic_ bond between them. The only girl she'd ever liked romantically was Chloe, but never Stacie. Right?

_"I mean sure, she's been one of my closest relationships for like five years now and she and I have been through so much together and she's awesome and funny and smart as hell and drop-dead gorge—"_

A sudden, loud clattering from the bedroom beside her snapped Beca out of her confusing musings.

She shook her head a little, disregarding that last incomplete thought, and looked down at the clothing in her lap. There was a pair of black, glossy, leather pants; a mostly translucent, silk, leopard print half button-up; a simple, black bralette; and a black, gold studded belt.

_"Of course she picks these clothes. Half of them are hers."_

Sighing and attempting to brush off the whole incident between her and her best friend, she started to get changed into the outfit that'd been picked for her.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Stacie was clumsily picking up her tray of nail care products that she'd accidentally knocked off of her dresser in the middle of a very similar, confusing train of thought.

_"Oh my god! Oh my god! What the hell? What the actual hell was that? Beca and me, we're just friends. Best friends. Nothing more, nothing less. That was just…nothing. It was nothing. Just go on like normal. Just forget about it. Come on, Conrad, you're about to go out and bone some random guy and you shouldn't—you can't—be thinking about your best friend while doing that. Get in the zone, Stacie! Snap out of it!"_

Once she finally cleaned up her mess, got focused, sent a quick text, and regained her confidence, the leggy strawberry-blonde chose her outfit: a sparkly, steel-gray, sleeveless crop top that was just translucent enough to show her silver bra underneath; blood-red jeans; and iron-gray, knee-high, high-heeled boots.

She quickly changed, then grabbed her makeup bag and hairbrush and returned to the other bedroom.

"Hey—whoa!" She instantly cut herself off after entering the room when she saw her petite friend.

Beca looked hot. No. She looked _fucking_ hot. Like, she knew that she'd picked the outfit out for her, but damn. She hadn't expected it to look _this_ good on the tiny DJ. She'd seen her wear this once or twice before though, so what was the difference this time?

"Damn, Mitchell. And I'm glad you knew to tuck the shirt in. It's a little baggy on you, huh, Shortstack?" the leggy strawberry-blonde quickly and casually recovered, pointing out the fact that the shirt was hers, which earned her an eyeroll, "But, uh…just—can I make a little adjustment?"

The small brunette nodded, relieved that it wasn't too tense and uncomfortable between them now.

Scratch that.

A fraction of the tension came back (at least for her) when the older woman slowly reached out and undid the first button at the top and readjusted the opening of the shirt. The only thing was that there were only two buttons: one at the collar and another close to the bottom of the V-neck opening, which meant that the shirt was open from her neck all the way down to below her bra.

"U-um, a-a-are you sure about that?" Beca self-consciously asked, feeling the urge to cover herself up.

"Becs, don't worry. You look amazing. Like, seriously so hot. Everyone'll wanna get into your pants tonight," Stacie complimented with a sultry wink, which made the other woman crinkle her nose a bit in discomfort, before beginning to brush the younger woman's hair and continuing to speak in a less confident tone, "So, I hope you don't mind, but I invited Chloe to tag along. It's just—you told me that you guys are still friends even though you guys haven't really hung out that much lately and I don't want you to be alone when I'm out…you know, on the search with The Hunter. Heh. Um, I don't mean that I'm gonna, like, ditch you or anything 'cause you know I'd never do that to you, I just want someone with you when I'm not there, so—"

"Stace," the tiny DJ interrupted, "It's all good. I get it. I mean, that's the reason why we're going out and Chloe and me, we are still friends. Best friends and plus, you know, we're Bellas. We're good."

"Are you sure?" the tall blonde asked, stopping her motions, "I mean, I know I'm the one who's practically forcing you to go out and we're going so that I can 'add to my list of one-night stands', but I don't want it to seem like we're going out just for me, you know? I-I want you to have a good time too."

"Yeah, no, I get it. I know you're always looking out for me, Stace, and I really appreciate it. Thank you. I'm perfectly happy hanging out with Chloe," Beca sincerely replied.

"Okay, good. Now, let's tame these gorgeous locks a little bit, do both of our makeup, and pick out some sweet kicks for you, yeah?" Stacie suggested as she resumed her work on her best friend's hair, who simply returned a "yeah" of her own.

* * *

Chloe sighed as she watched Beca, from a quieter corner of the noisy club, yet again walk away from a girl, who was holding two drinks and now wearing a disappointed expression.

It'd been an hour and a half since they'd gotten into the club and met up. After two drinks with her friends, Stacie left on her "hunt" and since then, the ginger had been watching the youngest of the three turn away from every single person who came up to her.

"Becs," the redhead started when her friend reached her, "What's up? That's like the seventeenth person you've shot down and about a third of them were sent by me. I swear, none of the ones I sent to you roofied your drink. I watched them like a hawk the entire time they bought the drink and approached you."

"Yeah, I know. I-I've seen you talking to them just before they come over to me," the tiny DJ awkwardly confessed.

"Oh. Oh, Becs, I'm sorry if I've been offending you. I didn't mean to, I just figured—" Chloe started to apologize, but she was cut off by the younger woman.

"Yeah, no, I-I get it. Thanks for trying to help, but I'm not really in the mood to hook up with anyone," Beca admitted with a shrug and a slightly downhearted expression.

The flame-haired girl noticed this and tilted her head a little in order to look at the small brunette's face, furrowing her eyebrows a bit.

"Hey. What's wrong?"

Beca's head turned to glance at her friend, but she rapidly returned her stare to the half empty drink in her hands. There was a different reason why she kept leaving everyone who tried to pick her up.

Yes, it was because she didn't feel like having meaningless sex with some random stranger, but it was also because she couldn't get Stacie or their little moment from earlier out of her mind.

She was planning on keeping this to herself, but she knew that she could trust Chloe and it might help to let it out.

"It…It's nothing. It's…" Beca started to try to explain what she was feeling, but it's never been her forte. Taking a deep breath and tucking her hair behind her ear, she made another attempt at expressing herself, "Is it…possible to just…all of a sudden, like, literally out of nowhere, start…having feelings for someone? Like, even if you've known the person for so long and never felt anything more towards them, can you just…"

Chloe took pity on the poor girl, knowing how difficult it is for her to talk about deep subjects sometimes, and asked, "You like Stacie?"

The small brunette's head shot towards her friend in shock, her mouth falling open and shutting closed yet no words came out, so she said in a soft voice, "I'll take that as a yes?"

"I-I don't know," Beca uttered in a tone of confusion, desperation, and fear that made her friend's sympathy for her intensify, "I mean, you know that you're the only person I've ever fallen in love with. I have, like, no experience with this kind of stuff, but after what happened earlier in my room, I haven't been able to stop thinking about her."

"What happened?" the redhead gently urged her ex to elaborate.

"Um, we, uh, we had a little moment I think," the small brunette started blushing at the memory, "Um, it was when she was trying to convince me to come here with her. She tackled me when I flopped onto my bed. After I finally agreed, she hugged me and when we pulled away, I—we were so close and I-I think we almost kissed."

"And did you want it to happen? The kiss, I mean," Chloe asked, already assuming what the answer was going to be.

Beca stared deeply into the older girl's ice-blue irises, truly contemplating her answer to the question. Her eyes then tore themselves away from her best friend's and found the one inadvertently responsible for her confusion currently being adored by a surrounding group of young men.

At the sight, an unpleasant feeling bubbled up inside of her and she instantly knew the answers to all of Chloe's questions. If she hadn't wanted Stacie to kiss her, if she didn't like her as more than friends, then she wouldn't have gotten this feeling. It was undeniable.

"Yes," Beca finally responded, her eyes never leaving the tall strawberry-blonde across the room.

At that exact moment, Stacie scanned the room, searching for her friends. When she found them, her eyes landed on her short roommate and a wide, fond smile graced her lips.

Beca returned the smile before turning her attention back to the flame-haired girl beside her and she repeated her answer, "Yes."

"Yes what?" Chloe gently asked, wanting a full admission.

"Yes, I wanted the kiss to happen," the small brunette told her friend.

"Is that the only yes?" the redhead prompted, referencing the earlier question she'd asked.

"Yes, I like Stacie," Beca said, more so to herself as a statement of realization rather than a reply to the taller woman.

"Are you gonna tell her?" Chloe asked, glancing in the leggy blonde's direction.

"I should, shouldn't I?" the tiny DJ replied with a sigh, knowing how bad it would make her feel if she didn't say anything.

"Definitely. Just maybe not right here, right now. Or even tonight," the ginger nonchalantly advised, taking a sip from her drink, which surprised Beca because she'd have thought she'd immediately be saying yes and then be pushing her over to the tall strawberry-blonde already, but that obviously wasn't the case.

"Oh…Um…O-kay," the shorter woman said unsurely.

"It's just that, you know, she's completely wasted right now and you'd have about ten seconds to think of how to tell her," Chloe warned her friend, her words becoming more rushed near the end, which confused the other Bella even more.

She finally understood though when Stacie suddenly bounced up to them out of seemingly nowhere and slung her arms over her friends' shoulders.

"Heyyy, girls! What's going on? What's happening? How's it going?"

"It's going super good, um, but I think that maybe it's time to start heading home, don't you think?" the redhead strongly suggested, seeing how drunk their leggy friend was.

"Are you sure? Aren't you guys having so much fun? I'm having so much fun! Aren't you guys having fun? It's so fucking fun in here!" Stacie excitedly rambled, fist-pumping the air.

"Sure is, Stace. Uh, just out of curiosity, approximately how many drinks have you had tonight?" Beca asked her friend.

She patiently waited for an answer, but she gave up when the older girl lost count at four (her ring finger being the last remaining for some reason) and got distracted by checking her nails with an unexplained look of confusion.

"Yeah, okay. I think that maybe we should call it a night," the tiny DJ decided, gently grabbing her tall friend's hand and following her ex out of the bar.

They got out without a problem, called an Uber, dropped Chloe off and said goodbye, then headed home. Beca somehow, despite her petite stature, helped a slightly wobbly Stacie into their building, into the elevator, and to their apartment. She led her to the leggy strawberry-blonde's room and sat her down onto her bed before turning to grab some pyjamas for her.

"Bec," a voice called for the small brunette's attention.

"Yeah?" Beca distractedly responded, assuming more drunken nonsense was going to spill out of her friend's mouth.

"Beca," Stacie repeated.

"What's wrong, Stace?" the shorter woman asked, turning around to face the other Bella.

She expected to find the older girl sprawled across the bed and half asleep, exhausted from the night's activities, so imagine her surprise when she was standing only about half a foot away from her.

Beca's heart skipped a beat and her breath caught in her throat at the close proximity and the stunning blue eyes staring so intensely at her with incredibly blown pupils.

"Um…Stace?"

"You look really hot right now. Like, you always look hot, but seriously. You look so fucking hot," Stacie very sincerely told her short friend, her hands almost twitching with the need to reach out towards her and make some sort of physical contact with her.

"And you're really drunk right now," Beca responded, attempting to sound like her sarcastic self, but her nerves didn't allow her to use the correct tone of voice.

She anxiously took a tiny step back to try and create even a slightly bigger distance between them, however, it only made her bump into the other woman's dresser and trapped her closer to Stacie as she had taken a step forward at the same time.

She didn't know why she was trying to get away if this was obviously what she wanted, considering the fact that her eyes were darting back and forth between the desire-filled eyes and the glossy, perfectly shaped lips.

"Actually, can I tell you a secret?" the tall blonde asked, waiting for the small nod from her best friend, "I've only had one drink other than the two with you and Chloe. Do you want to know why?"—another small nod—"Because I was too distracted by you to do anything else, especially in that sexy as fuck outfit. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened between us and particularly what _could've_ happened between us if I hadn't chickened out. Like, not just what could've happened right there and then, but I mean in the long run. I just can't stop thinking about…well, about you. I faked being wasted so that we could come home and so that I could tell you in private that I _really_ want you. Like, you have no idea how much I want you."

Beca was speechless. She had absolutely no idea how to respond. Her best friend was possibly telling her that she returned some of the feelings that she had for her and that she wasn't actually that drunk while saying this.

_"Is this actually happening right now?"_

"I'm gonna do something now, so please don't freak out and if you don't want it, then just stop me and we can forget all about it," Stacie told the younger woman, who remained silent and frozen, before leaning in and connecting their lips in a soft but passionate kiss.

Right then, Beca truly believed that the other Bella was telling the truth about how much she had drunk because no one could fake so much sincerity in a kiss like this one while wasted.

It was exactly the kind of kiss that both of them had expected to happen after their little moment in the small brunette's room earlier. It was one that held promise and a little something different—something special.

When Stacie felt Beca return the kiss, a small smile grew onto her face as she snaked an arm around the petite woman's slim waist and placed the opposite hand on her cheek, gently guiding her face in order to kiss her more deeply.

The tiny DJ responded by tangling her right hand in the dyed locks and resting the other hand around the taller girl's back, pulling her closer if possible.

Beca was so lost in this moment that she didn't realize that she had been spun around and was no longer against the dresser. It wasn't until the backs of her knees hit something soft, her back was hitting the bed, and she and the taller woman were back in the position from earlier that night, their lips never separating from each other, that she processed everything that was happening and that was going to happen.

There was no question that the older girl was in charge tonight, but the small brunette had absolutely no qualms about it. She knew that she could trust Stacie and so she let herself be taken by the girl who she never realized had already been slowly claiming her, piece by piece.

* * *

_The next morning…_

Beca woke up to the brilliant late-morning sun, feeling light for some reason. At first it confused her because she rarely woke up feeling so great, but then she registered the fact that she was not in her own room and instead in her best friend's room and she remembered every single thing that happened the night before.

She re-closed her eyes and felt a slight blush creep up into her cheeks at the memories, but there was also a small smile slowly spreading across her face. She lazily turned around and reached out, expecting to cuddle up to the familiar-yet-unfamiliar warm body, but she literally came up cold.

Her eyes shot open and her body flew up when she found an empty space beside her and the covers pushed down to the end of the bed. There was also absolute silence throughout the apartment, which could only mean that Stacie had fled the place already.

Then came the heavy feeling in her chest that completely vaporized the light-heartedness from earlier. Reality quickly smashed into her like a freight train as she pulled the blankets up to shield her bare body, feeling way too exposed both physically and emotionally.

She slept with her best friend and now the morning after, a day that they both had off from work, she was nowhere to be seen nor heard. There was nothing left to give her any indication of what the other woman was thinking. No texts, no notes, no voicemails, nothing. These were never good signs.

Slowly, Beca removed herself from her roommate's bed and made her way to her own room, only picking up the clothes that were actually hers from her outfit last night.

After getting herself ready for the day, the small brunette entered the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. She was walking over to the coffee machine when she caught a glimpse of something attached to the front door and froze. She turned and found a note taped over the peephole.

_"Out all day. Be home late. Don't wait up. –Stacie"_

Okay, that was weird. Stacie was very much like Chloe in the way she wrote messages for Beca, whether it be electronically or physically. They always left "xoxo" after their names and used their nicknames. This note was also put in probably the last place the tall blonde thought she'd see it instead of the first place she'd check in the morning.

_"F-f-fuck."_

* * *

Beca woke up with a start at the sound of the door shutting from where she'd been sleeping on the couch in the living room. She checked her phone for the time. 2:34 am. She must've fallen asleep, watching tv while waiting for her best friend to get home even though she told her not to in the very short note she'd left.

She watched with slightly squinted eyes as Stacie, who looked slightly disheveled, moved around the kitchen, not noticing her.

When the tall strawberry-blonde finally became aware of her presence, she paused for a couple seconds before continuing her activities as if nothing had happened.

"Hey, Bec, what's up?" Stacie spoke in a nonchalant tone, which made Beca's eyebrows furrow.

"Um…nothing much. You're home late," the tiny DJ said.

"Uh, yeah. I was a little busy," the leggy Bella noncommittally responded with a shrug, not even looking up from the very late snack that she was making.

"Stace, your shirt's on backwards," Beca stated in a flat voice with a completely straight expression.

She was trying to mask the full extent of the hurt she felt when she realized where her crush had been all day instead of here with her after what had happened between them. Obviously, Stacie had just returned from either a date and hookup or just a straight-up hookup and the younger woman didn't feel the need to completely hide her displeasure.

"I mean, Bec, is that really a surprise?" the tall blonde rhetorically asked, finishing up her little fruit salad.

_"Um, yeah."_

Beca had no idea what exactly was going on. She knew for a fact that Stacie hadn't lied about how much she had drunk last night and she also knew that it wasn't enough for her to have forgotten.

"I-I just—I thought…What about—" the small brunette stuttered, not believing that her own best friend was doing this to her. Pulling her whole "hump and dump" thing.

"Bec, you're not making any sense right now. I think you need to get back to sleep. It's late, you have work tomorrow—well, this morning—and you probably fell asleep on that thing like an hour ago. Get to bed. Stiff neck at work probably won't be too enjoyable," the older girl advised, almost expertly avoiding the one subject Beca wanted to bring up, "Goodnight, Bec."

The tiny DJ sat still for a moment, almost like she was in slight shock, before she finally stood up, gathered her things, and made her way to her bedroom, mumbling a half-hearted "Goodnight" of her own.

If only she had glanced back once more. Then she would've caught the heavy sigh that Stacie let out as her body slumped and she stabbed her fork into her fruit, leaving it to stick up in the air, a beyond guilty expression taking residence upon her face.

* * *

The next day was no better. In fact, the next two weeks were the same, if not worse.

Stacie still had yet to acknowledge their night together and Beca didn't even get many opportunities to try to bring it up. It definitely was not because of a lack of trying, but because the tall strawberry-blonde was out about 88% of the time, obviously using some of it to go on dates and/or hook up with even more people.

To say that the small brunette was getting annoyed and frustrated and even more disappointed and hurt was probably one of the biggest understatements that she'd ever heard.

"I don't know what the fuck to do, Chloe! She barely ever gives me the time of day and when we do talk, she somehow always manages to avoid it!" Beca ranted to the redhead, who was sitting on her friend's couch and watching her pace back and forth in the living room.

"Well, how about the next time you see her, trap her and don't let her leave until you give her a piece of your mind. I'll bring a rope if I have to," Chloe bluntly told the younger woman.

"Ah, gee. Thanks, Chlo. So helpful," the tiny DJ sarcastically responded, assuming she was doing the same, and plopped herself down onto the couch beside the other Bella, dropping her head into her hands.

"I wasn't kidding. Okay, the rope part, yeah, but other than that, I was being completely serious, Becs. You need to do a little ass-kicking on her and lay everything out on the table for her. Tell her about your feelings and confront her about hers. Just be totally straightforward with her. That's really the only way I can think of to fix this," the ginger said.

Just then, the front door opened and both girls' heads turned towards the newcomer to find none other than the tall strawberry-blonde herself.

"Oh. Hey, guys. I was just—" Stacie started to make up some excuse about her dropping in for a few minutes only to leave and not be seen for another couple hours, but she was sharply cut off by an angry Chloe.

She shot up off of the sofa, pointed towards where she had previously been sitting, and ordered, "Anastasia Conrad, you get your ass over here and sit down and talk with her. Right here, right now. She deserves that at least."

The redhead then marched out of the apartment without another word.

"Um, what was that about?" the leggy blonde asked, pointing behind her shoulder.

"Oh, she's just tired of your bullshit," Beca answered in a faux casual tone before turning serious, "like I am."

Stacie straightened slightly and her eyes started to wander without ever falling upon the younger woman's, knowing that if she saw the hurt in them, she wouldn't be able to deny her feelings anymore.

"What are you talking about, Beca?" the tall strawberry-blonde tried to play dumb, but her best friend saw right through it, of course.

"Come on, Stace. Why are we still messing around instead of facing the truth? We slept together, Stacie. Okay? It happened. Now what does that mean for us?" Beca started, hoping that Stacie would contribute, but of course not, so she continued, "Well, I don't know what it meant to you, if it even meant anything at all-"

"Of course it did," the other Bella quietly interjected, finally moving closer to her friend.

She didn't get very far as the shorter woman jumped up and yelled suddenly, "Really? Because you're not fucking acting like it!"

"Well, how the fuck am I supposed to act, Beca?" Stacie shouted back, "I had sex with my fucking best friend! Don't you think that's a little scary for me?"

"It's scary for me too, Stacie, and instead of allowing us to help each other out, you fucking left," Beca responded, her voice lowering a bit and unintentionally letting some of her vulnerability slip into it, "I know you don't really do relationships and you have your fucking reputation to uphold, but I needed you, not necessarily as a…a whatever but as my best friend and you weren't there—you were _never_ there.

"Every single time I tried to talk to you about, not just this, but anything, you always ran off to do something better. No, not to do something better, to go and mess around with a bunch of boys. And you can't even admit it to me.

"And you can't even tell me that I wasn't trying because we both know how much I was. We needed to talk about this, but you never took me seriously. What the hell was that about?"

"It…I don't know, Beca. You're fucking five years younger than me. I mean, we were born in different decades. Isn't that a little awkward?" The leggy woman knew it was pretty pathetic, but it was the first excuse she could think of instead of facing reality.

"More bullshit, Stace? Really? You're saying that you not wanting to be with me is because I was born in the nineties?" the small brunette concluded incredulously, "I know for a fact that that isn't true. Try again."

"Look, I can't pursue this with you, Bec. I'm not 100% sure that my parents would support it. That's why I've been going out and trying to find the perfect guy that will make them proud and who I'll maybe like more than you," Stacie finally admitted the truth.

"Stace, I get it, but I know that your parents will love you no matter who you're interested in. Remember, when I met them, they thought that I was your first girlfriend?" Beca gently pointed out as she watched the taller girl sit down and followed suite.

Of course she was feeling empathetic towards her best friend as she remembered how nervous and scared she was about telling her parents that she liked girls as well as boys. However, she also knew that the fear was somewhat irrational as she'd noticed some little hints that Stacie hadn't seen in her parents that indicated that, not only would they be okay with them being in a relationship, but that they'd fully support it.

"Beca, don't push me on this," the older girl told the other Bella.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Beca exclaimed, standing up again and resuming her pacing, "I wanna be with you and I thought you wanted to be with me, but I honestly don't know anymore! I understand that you're afraid to tell your parents, but you could tell them whenever you feel ready. They'll still love you no matter what. I don't care if and when you'd feel comfortable telling them! I just wanna be with you! You're the first person I feel like I could fall in love with since Chloe, but that morning, when I woke up and you weren't there, I couldn't help feeling like you were treating me just like another boy."

Something about those words snapped something inside of Stacie, making her finally wake up. It was then that the impact of what she had done—how much she had truly hurt one of the people she cared about the most in this world—finally dawned upon her and it absolutely broke her heart.

All in one swift motion, she shot off of the couch, grabbed her best friend's hand, stopping her pacing, pulled her into her, and connected their lips in an incredibly meaningful kiss.

When they separated at last, Beca's eyes were shining with hope as they stared up into her own and it only reassured her that she'd finally done the right thing.

"Bec, I'm so sorry. I've been such an asshole and you didn't deserve that. And you're right; I wanna be with you too. So fucking much. If my parents end up being okay with it, then awesome, but if they don't, well, we'll figure it out together," Stacie confessed, then tilted her soon-to-be girlfriend's head upwards so that they were looking directly at each other, "But you were wrong about one thing"—she leaned down to place a loving peck onto the shorter woman's lips—"Beca Mitchell, I _never _wanna hear you say that again because, to me, you were never just a boy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The argument at the end was difficult because in the song Charlie Puth's singing about how a girl wasn't taking him seriously because she thought of him as a boy rather than a real man, but that situation doesn't exactly fit with two girls. So I had to think of a reason why Stacie would be treating Beca like a boy and that's what I came up with. Anyway though, hope you liked it and thanks for reading.


	5. Check Yes, Juliet - We The Kings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Physical abuse and homophobia

Chloe crossed her arms and huffed as she stood in front of her angry father and silent mother. She couldn't believe he was acting this way and that she was doing nothing about it. It was her life and he wasn't allowed to dictate every single, little thing about it, especially this, which by the way was huge to her.

"I don't give a fucking damn whether or not you 'condone this disgusting relationship' or not, okay, dad?" the redhead yelled, "I'm in love with her and I'm staying with her. She needs me and I need her too, just as much."

"Absolutely not and that is final!" Jack Beale decisively stated, "First and foremost: she is a fucking girl! I thought I raised you better than to fall for a girl! I thought I taught you that it's wrong and unnatural, but clearly I didn't do it well enough! You've had tons of other great, _male_ options, like Tom, and yet you still choose her for God-knows-what reason!

"Secondly: she is a high school junior and you're in your sophomore year of college. I'll be damned if I allow you to throw all of your hard work _and_ all of our hard-earned money away for _her_! Not only is that disrespecting your mother and me, but that is disrespecting yourself too!

"Thirdly: she has and _is_ nothing! She wears the same fucking clothes every two weeks and she lives in that puny house with her pathetic, good-for-nothing father in that sketchy-ass area of town!

"And finally: she wants to be in the fucking music industry. Only truly talented people can succeed in that field. You'll be dragging her ass through life, I know it."

Chloe stared at her father, mouth agape and eyes burning with rage. "How dare you talk about her like that?"

Without another word, the ginger spun on her heels and ran upstairs to her room. She immediately locked herself inside, ignoring her mother's frantic calls and her father's angry shouts.

She couldn't believe he just said all of those horrible things about the girl she loves. If he were a good father, he would've accepted her and her significant other because they made each other happy. If he were a good father, he wouldn't have basically thrown her girlfriend, Beca, out into the rainy night after he and her mother got home and they found out about their relationship.

It wasn't as if they were doing anything scandalous like heavily making out or having sex on the goddamn couch. Beca was only over, showing her how to play a couple chords on her guitar. Nothing more, nothing less, but of course, her father just exploded and kicked her out, then proceeded to lecture Chloe about her "inappropriate relationship".

Then there was her mother, Stephanie Beale, who she knew wasn't bothered by her sexuality, but who also did absolutely nothing about her husband's attack on their own daughter and her love. Her problem was that she wasn't courageous enough to stand up for what was right if it meant going against her husband.

In some ways, Chloe could understand that. Being loyal towards your partner is a very important trait, but it should not keep you from doing the right thing.

The redhead laid in bed as she heard the basement door slam shut. Like father, like daughter. He was locking himself in the basement where his study and man-cave were.

Her mother was probably standing in the kitchen, wondering what the hell to make of this situation, but Chloe knew she wasn't going to try to talk to either of her family members. At least, not while they were both in such bad moods.

_"Ugh, why do my parents have to be this way?"_

* * *

A couple hours had passed. It was about 1:17 am now. Chloe figured her father had decided to sleep in his man-cave when she heard only the delicate footsteps of her mother moving around upstairs a little earlier. She knew she had stopped in front of her door and debated whether or not to check on her, but she apparently ultimately decided not to and continued on her way towards the bathroom.

Oh well.

Her parents can act this way all they wanted, she wasn't going to break. She was in love with Beca and nothing was going to tear them apart. Not on her watch.

Her eyes started feeling heavier, so she let them shut on their own account and prepared herself to let sleep envelope her when all of a sudden there was a high-pitched knock at her window.

At first, she thought she might've imagined it, so she re-closed her eyes and rested her head back onto her pillow until she heard it again.

She stared at the window, thinking maybe the rain had turned into hail and was tapping against the glass. That's when she saw the tiny object fly up and hit the transparent material. It was a little rock.

Chloe quickly realized what was happening and jumped out of bed. She rushed over to the window and practically threw it open. She looked down to find Beca at the bottom, looking back up at her and standing as rain showered her.

Her hair and clothes looked soaked and the hood of her sweater was pulled over her head. It was too dark and the rain was too heavy to really make out any details, but it was very clearly her petite girlfriend.

"Oh my god! Beca! What are you doing out there?" the redhead whisper/yelled down to the younger girl.

"I…I can't go back home, Chloe. I tried, but he…he locked me out and…Can I…" Beca stuttered, her voice shamefully breaking.

"Of course," Chloe didn't hesitate to say and searched for a way for the small brunette to get to her, "Do you think you can climb this?"

Beca nodded, which her girlfriend was barely able to see, before starting to scale the tree that was close enough to the window to allow access to the house.

Once she was within reach, the flame-haired girl grabbed hold of the high school junior's hand and helped her in, not missing the pained gasp she let out at the action.

"What's wrong?" Chloe immediately questioned in concern for her love.

Beca shook her head and kept it down, but the redhead wouldn't allow it. She gently lifted her girlfriend's head and found a large, purple bruise on her left cheek and unshed tears building in her stunning, navy blue eyes.

"Oh, sweetie," Chloe sympathized with the younger girl, "Did he do this to you?"

Beca nodded.

"Did he slap you again?"

Another nod.

"Is this all he did other than lock you out?"

There was a slight hesitation before the small brunette shook her head. She then slowly lifted her shirt to reveal even more bruises and a couple cuts littered across her stomach, ribs, and back left by none other than her own father, Warren Mitchell.

"Honey, why did you climb the tree then? And why didn't you call me for a ride instead of walking all the way back here?" Chloe softly demanded as she delicately ran her fingers over the injuries to make sure nothing was broken or in need of stitches.

"I didn't wanna risk getting you into more trouble because of me," Beca mumbled sadly, wincing a couple times when her girlfriend touched a particularly painful spot, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. My father's just being a complete asshole," the ginger reassured her, "Looks like yours is too."

"Apparently your dad rang him up while I was walking there. He wasn't too happy about the news or about hearing from him. He somehow changed the locks on the doors before I got there so that he could hear when I got back. Or, well, tried to get back. He forced me into the house and yelled at me. He tried to throw a couple of his empty beer bottles at my head. He was drunk though, so he missed mostly. After he hit me a couple times, he threw me out too," the shorter girl recounted.

"God, I'm so sorry about them," Chloe apologized on behalf of both of their terrible fathers.

"Eh. He would've done something anyway. Like I said, he was drunk off his stupid ass," Beca said with a shrug, but her girlfriend could tell that it was hurting her so much more than she let on.

"I'm gonna get you out of there, Beca," the ginger assured, gently grabbing a tiny hand, "I promise."

"Focus on your own dad first, Chlo. _My_ dad's _my_ issue. I can handle him. Don't worry," the small brunette told the older girl, not angrily nor impatiently but firmly.

The day that Chloe finally decided to confront her father about his parenting ways was one that she never wanted to reach. She was hoping that she'd get herself out of this situation before her love actually had to step in.

"Beca, all I do is worry every single time you go back there. You're living with a monster—"

"So are you and I'm not talking about your dad," Beca interrupted.

No, the monster she was thinking about wasn't Jack Beale, its name was Homophobia and it was simply possessing him. She's had to deal with her father being the way he was for years, but Chloe's always had a good relationship with her father up until she came along. The younger girl had to make sure that her girlfriend wasn't letting her issues overshadow her own. It wouldn't be fair.

"Look, Chlo, I'm exhausted. Can we please just go to sleep?" Beca practically begged, needing to rest her sore body.

Chloe instantly picked up on this and agreed, helping her love out of her sopping clothes and into the smallest tank top and shorts that she owned. The couple then crawled into bed together, the taller of the two gently and lovingly wrapping her arms around the petite body from behind.

"You locked the door?" Beca asked through a tired yawn.

"I did, sweetie, don't worry about it. Just get some rest," Chloe reassured her girlfriend, "Goodnight. I love you."

"Goodnight. I love you too."

* * *

About a week after the fight in the Beale house and Chloe and her father still had yet to speak to each other. Well, that ended when she walked through the door to her house after a lecture on Tuesday.

"Chloe, honey! There you are!" That was her father's voice.

"Dad?" the redhead called back in confusion.

She entered the living room and her confusion only grew when she found not only her father sitting in the room, but also her petite girlfriend, who also looked perplexed and nervous, and some tall guy she'd never seen before, who looked rather uncomfortable.

"Becs?" Chloe questioned the younger girl, who just shrugged cluelessly, "What's going on?"

"Well, I brought your little…friend here—" Jack started, only to be immediately interrupted by his daughter.

"My _girlfriend_, dad," Chloe forcefully corrected.

Mr. Beale ignored her and continued as if nothing had happened, "So that you could break up with her useless self right here and now, right in front of me."

Both girls' eyes shot to the man in shock and bewilderment.

"And why the hell would I do that?" Chloe demanded as she crossed her arms, her anger towards her father quickly rising again.

"Because I finally found you the perfect guy," Jack answered as if it were obvious, "This is Chicago Walp. He's nice, he's smart, and he's in the army. You remember his parents, don't you? Preston and Katherine Walp. The owners of Walp Industries, the tech company that's huge in Japan."

"Hey," Chicago awkwardly greeted the girl he was being set up with, "Um, Mr. Beale, you didn't tell me Chloe's already—"

"Dad, Beca's already perfect for me," the Chloe insisted, inadvertently cutting Chicago off.

"Mr. Beale, with all due respect, I think that these two really care about each other a lot and it would probably be best to let them be," Chicago intervened as politely as possible while still defending the young couple from the verbal assault.

"Nonsense! They have no idea what they want!" the older man brushed his comment off.

"Maybe I should go," Beca quietly suggested, standing up and making her way towards the front door.

"Yes, I think that's best. Just let my daughter dump your worthless ass and be on your way," the man agreed.

"Mr. Beale, that was highly unnece—" the army soldier tried to diffuse the situation again but was, once again, unintentionally interrupted by the taller of the two girls.

"No, Beca, if you're leaving, then I'm leaving with you," the redhead stated as she gently grabbed the younger girl's wrist, not allowing this attempt to break them up succeed.

The small brunette glanced fearfully at her girlfriend's father and said, "I don't think that's what your dad wants."

"That's right! Now, leave already!" Jack confirmed, then gave his daughter his orders, "Chloe, get back in here. You're being rude to Chicago."

"And you're being rude to Beca, my actual girlfriend," Chloe continued to argue, keeping her hold on Beca.

"Stop calling her that! I forbid it! I will not allow my daughter to be in love with another girl, especially one like her!" Mr. Beale shouted as he shot off of the couch, making the high school junior flinch.

"I'm not a fucking child, dad! You can't control my life anymore! If I wanna be with Beca, then I'm gonna be with her," the ginger declared.

"Enough with this fucking Romeo & Juliet bullshit! Now do as I say! Both of you!" Jack yelled as he approached the couple in a rather threatening manner.

Chloe bravely stood her ground. Beca, on the other hand, was cowering behind her girlfriend at this point, an action not lost on the young man across the room.

"You know what happened to those so-called 'star-crossed lovers'? They both fucking died because they tried to go against what was natural! They, a privileged girl and a lowly boy, thought that they could conquer the fucking world just by 'loving each other'. They thought they could outrun fate! Well, look at how that ended! Both of them committing suicide! I'm trying to prevent that with you! I'm trying to save you from each other and yet this is the thanks that I get in return?" the ginger's father roared, lunging at the pair.

In a second, Chicago was standing between Jack and the girls. He held the older man's raised arm with one of his hands and lifted his other arm to shield the young couple.

At that same moment, the front door opened, accidentally bumping into Beca's back, and then entered Chloe's mother.

"What the hell is going on here?" Stephanie demanded, taking in the sight that she'd just walked in on.

"Dad was trying to break Beca and me up and then set me up with some rich, army guy," Chloe told her.

"Ma'am, I think your husband was about to get physical with your daughter and her girlfriend and probably would have had I not been here to intervene," Chicago informed the woman in a professional voice, which earned him a hard glare from the other man.

"Okay, this has gone way too far! Jack"—Stephanie pointed towards her own office—"my office now!" Mrs. Beale authoritatively ordered before turning towards her daughter, "Chloe, honey, you're gonna wanna go after your girlfriend."

The redhead looked confused for a second until she realized that the front door was still open and Beca was nowhere in sight.

"Shit," Chloe hissed under her breath before rushing outside to find the younger girl speed-walking away from the house.

"Beca! Beca, wait! I'm sorry!" the flame-haired girl called after her girlfriend as she easily caught up to her.

She ran ahead so that she could physically get in front of her and raised her hands to stop the high school junior.

"Becs, I'm so sorry about him. I can't believe he would pull something like this," Chloe sincerely apologized about her father.

"Look, I don't think we should stay together if this is the kind of bullshit you're gonna have to deal with on a daily basis!" Beca exclaimed.

"Beca, don't say that," the redhead contested, "I don't give a shit what he thinks about us. I love you and I wanna be with you and nothing's gonna stop me from that, even my dad."

"Chloe, I can't come between you and your family! You can't let me do that, okay? Partners come and go, but you can't change who your parents are. I've always had a shitty family, but yours was fine up until me. If we just stop now, your dad will be happy, your mom could relax, and you'll have your family back," the small brunette tried to justify her choice, her voice breaking several times.

"Beca—" Chloe tried to object, but the younger girl wouldn't allow it.

"Your dad's right; Chicago seems to be a great guy. Just promise you won't sell your heart out to him. Promise you'll make sure he could actually make you happy and that he could be the one for you," Beca desperately requested.

"Beca, stop," the ginger firmly ordered, "I don't want Chicago, okay? The only person I wanna be with is you. You already make me happy and I know you're the one for me. I don't have to sell out my heart because I have you. You can't throw our relationship away because of this. I won't allow it. He wants to tear us apart and he'll get what he wants if you give him a chance to. Please don't give him a chance."

Chloe had slowly closed the distance between her and her girlfriend as she spoke. She gently cupped her face, feeling the younger girl copy her, and connected their lips. They wrapped each other in their arms as they kissed, revelling in the familiar warmth and safety they always felt with one another.

When they separated, the older girl whispered, "I have a plan. Please just—if you could wait it out for just like a day or two more."

Beca lightly bumped their noses together and pecked her love on the lips. "For you, anything."

* * *

A couple days after her father's attempt to break her and Beca up, Chloe returned home after having dropped by her girlfriend's house. She wasn't home and either her dad was gone too or he was completely passed out from drinking somewhere in the house.

Beca had begged Chloe not to do anything except deposit the note into the mailbox and nothing more if she wasn't home from school and work by the time she got there. It would be safe in there since Mr. Mitchell never checked the mail anyway ("Because you always do everything around that house and he does shit all. Doesn't even clean up after he's beaten you.")

It had taken every ounce of the redhead's willpower not to storm in and give the bastard a piece of her mind for how he treated the love of her life, but she successfully held herself back and did as she was told.

Chloe had just hung up her coat and purse, sat herself onto her bed, and turned on her laptop when her phone vibrated with a text.

_"Are you serious?"_ –My Juliet

She had changed her girlfriend's contact name to this only moments after her father used it to describe their situation. Was it because it was true or was it just to spite him? Well, let's put it this way: yes.

Instead of replying, she rang the small brunette up.

"This isn't a joke, is it? This is actually your plan?" Beca questioned the second she accepted the call.

"I'm dead serious, Beca," Chloe affirmed with conviction, "Look, I realize this is a bigger deal for you than for me, but this is honestly the only way I can think of to help us both. What do we have to lose? Unaccepting families? Judgemental idiots?"

"You're only halfway done college, Chlo. You're at a great school. You're trying to become a vet. Your dad's sort of a dick, but your mom's great. You're living comfortably. You have few taxes. You can't just throw all of that away for me," the younger girl reasoned.

"Becs, you're so much more important to me than all of that. I can find a new school. I'll be away from my jackass of a dad. I'll keep in touch with my mom. We can work out living arrangements together. I really couldn't care less about any of that. If I lost you though, I don't even know what I would do," the college student said, "Look, you don't have to give me an answer right now. Just promise me you'll think about it."

There was silence on the other line for a moment as the small brunette processed her girlfriend's words.

It wasn't an impossible plan, but it sure was…ambitious. And incredibly risky for both of them.

"Okay, fine. I promise I'll think about it," Beca finally spoke, "I gotta go now. Homework and stuff. I love you."

"I love you too," Chloe returned, "Bye."

"Bye."

The redhead tossed her phone onto the mattress that she was currently sitting on and sighed.

She really hoped Beca accepted her offer. This was how she was planning on saving her girlfriend from her horrible father and herself from her own. They really didn't have anything keeping them from doing it, except for maybe her mother, but they could always phone each other. Truly, the only thing that could stop them was Beca's fear of her dad and she really hoped that she wouldn't let it. This was their only option at this point.

* * *

Later that night, Beca was sitting cross-legged on the couch in her living room, making a quick mix on her laptop, when she heard a door somewhere in her house slam shut. The sound was so loud and powerful that it travelled all throughout the building.

She knew it was her father. There was no one else it could be. Although, she hadn't even realized that he was awake. She'd thought he was still passed out in his room or something.

"REBECCA!" Warren roared from downstairs.

The small brunette sighed and closed her laptop, carefully sliding it under the couch so that he couldn't see it nor crush it when he came out. Mr. Beale wasn't the only one who thought her dreams were a joke.

"Yeah, dad?" Beca asked in a bored tone to mask the fear she felt.

She didn't hear him scream again, but that didn't mean there was no reaction because the next thing she knew, a piece of paper was being shoved in front of her face and a rough hand tangled in the hair on the back of her head was forcing her to look at it.

It was Chloe's note. With her plan written on it.

_"Shit."_

"What the fuck is this? This is from that fucking slut of a girlfriend of yours, isn't it? How long have you been planning this, huh? Was this your idea or hers? Hers? Of course, it was! You've never had a single idea in that empty head of yours, let alone one as ambitious as this because you're a fucking coward!" Warren yelled at his daughter as he crumpled up the paper, threw it aside, and jabbed a finger into her temple.

"Dad, stop—" the small brunette pleaded, her hands gripping the wrist connected to the hand currently bunched up in her hair.

"What did you just say to me?" the man demanded as he moved in front of her.

"I said stop! And don't you dare speak of my girlfriend that way! She's more family to me than you ever were or ever will be!" Beca exclaimed, finally standing up to her father.

She knew she would be paying for it dearly, but she couldn't let him get away with insulting her girlfriend. That was a line that she absolutely forbade anyone to cross, even her terrifying and dangerous dad.

Warren didn't respond verbally, however he responded quite violently physically. He held his grip on his daughter's head and began delivering punch after punch to her face until her nose, lip, and forehead were all bleeding and her jaw, eye, and cheek were badly bruised.

"How dare _I_ speak about _her_ that way? How dare _you_ speak to _me_ that way, you ungrateful, little bitch! I have done more for you than you ever realized! For seventeen fucking years, I've supported your sorry ass!" the brown-haired man roared as he yanked the girl off of the couch and basically threw her over the coffee table and into a flimsy end table, smashing it to pieces.

"Didn't know years of your abuse constituted loving support," Beca gasped out in a snide tone as she tried to catch her breath after the attack, holding an arm protectively over her damaged stomach.

That was the last straw for Warren. He left his daughter on the floor for a mere moment to get something and returned to the injured body. He raised his arm, revealing the baseball bat in his hand, and violently brought it down onto her.

The small brunette yelped out in pain as the wood piece made contact with her hip. She didn't have a second to recover as her father delivered blow after blow after blow with the bat. All she could do was cry out and wait for it to end.

* * *

Chloe was sitting in one of the lounging areas in the library with her study group. They were supposed to be reading up on how to help birth a calf, however she couldn't focus on anything but her beautiful girlfriend and her proposition.

Speak of the devil.

Her phone vibrated on the arm of her cushioned chair. The device lit up with a text notification from Beca.

Usually, her knee-jerk reaction would be to grin and practically lunge for her phone, but something felt different this time. Something felt bad.

The redhead anxiously picked up her phone and double-tapped the notification.

_"I'm in. Pls come get me ASAP."_ –My Juliet

_"Ofc. R u ok?"_ –Baby*heart emoji*

_"Tell you when we meet up."_ –My Juliet

_"Ok. C u in like an hour. I'll try to b faster if I can."_ –Baby*heart emoji*

_"Ty so much, baby. Love u. Be careful."_ –My Juliet

_"U too, love."_ –Baby*heart emoji*

Chloe quickly but politely excused herself from the group, gathered her things, and sped home. The bad feeling was still present and it had only worsened after the short text conversation.

She pulled into the driveway without even turning her car off and rushed inside, straight to her room. She yanked open her closet doors and took the big duffle bag that was stuffed inside off of the floor. She hurriedly placed it onto her bed, then went around her room, tossing everything important into the bag.

"Chloe, honey, what're you doing? What's wrong?" Stephanie asked as she entered the room after having heard the hurricane that is her daughter return home.

The ginger stopped and sighed, turning to face her mother. "Beca needs my help, Mom. I'm getting her out of that godawful house and away from her dad. He's a horrible, abusive, alcohol asshole."

"Sweetie, why didn't you ever tell me? I could've helped you both," the older woman said.

"Well, no offence, Mom, but you didn't really seem like the right person to tell. Like, you weren't nearly as bad as Dad, but you also didn't exactly come off as super supportive," Chloe told her.

"Chloe, we still would've cared and tried to help. Your father may be hugely homophobic, but he's not an absolute monster," Stephanie stated in disappointment towards her husband's actions and at the fact that her daughter didn't think that she could trust them.

"I know he's not a complete monster, Mom, but he's not exactly a saint," the redhead replied, "Look, I didn't mean to insult either of you, but Beca and I've already made a plan to get her out and we're doing it now."

"So I'm guessing you'll be gone for a while," the older woman assumed, a little sadly.

Chloe chewed the inside of her cheek hesitantly and answered, "Yeah. A pretty long while. I'll visit you though. Maybe once dad chills out."

"I'll make you both a late supper for tonight and breakfast for tomorrow morning," Stephanie told her daughter, then she grabbed something off of her desk, "And don't forget this."

It was the credit card connected to her mom's personal account that Chloe had been given for emergencies.

The flame-haired girl's stance softened and she responded, "No, Mom, it's okay. We can—"

"Take it, Chloe. Just in case"—Mrs. Beale started to leave and make the to-go meals for her daughter and her girlfriend, but she stopped at the door frame and turned back towards the younger woman—"Just know that you'll always have my support and your father will come around eventually. If you ever need help, I'm only a phone call away. Please promise me you'll call at least once every day."

"Of course I will," Chloe replied as she walked over to her mother and gave her a big hug, "Thank you so much. I love you."

"You're welcome, honey. I love you too," Stephanie returned before the two broke apart to finish preparing for Chloe's departure.

* * *

Chloe rolled up to Beca's street and parked on the side of the road three houses away, as per her request. She then pulled out her phone and texted her girlfriend.

_"I'm here. I'll be waiting exactly where u told me to park."_ –Baby*heart emoji*

_"Ok. I'll be there soon. Just gotta escape without my dad noticing."_ –My Juliet

_"He, uh, he found the note."_ –My Juliet

_"WHAT?! Why didn't u tell me?! What did he do to u?"_ –Baby*heart emoji*

_"Don't worry about it. We're leaving anyway, right?"_ –My Juliet

_"Right. Sure. Just pls be careful and just run, baby, run, okay? Don't ever look back once. Just sneak out and don't tell a soul goodbye. I promise I won't go until u come out."_ –Baby*heart emoji*

_"Got it. Ty so much for all of this, Chlo. I love you."_ –My Juliet

_"I love you too, Becs."_ –Baby*heart emoji*

Chloe put her phone back down into the cup holder and anxiously watched the little house, waiting for her girlfriend to walk out.

However, nothing happened for about two minutes, which greatly worried her. It shouldn't have taken Beca this long to sneak out. She was a pro at this point. She'd once witnessed her sneak out of her house in under thirty seconds. Something had to be wrong.

After a couple more seconds of no activity, the front light turned on and the front door opened. Only it wasn't Beca, it was Mr. Mitchell!

"Shit!" Chloe hissed as she quickly killed the engine and sank down into her seat to hide herself from him.

She watched him look around before walking down the two front steps and marching around to the side of the house. He seemed furious, which didn't really surprise her, considering he knew about his daughter's plan with her.

All of a sudden, on the other side of the house, Beca, holding a duffle bag of her own, rounded the corner to the front and slipped behind another parked car on the street on her side of the road.

Right as the small brunette got out of sight, her father came around the same way as her and continued his search. He returned to the front door and looked around once more before yelling in anger and frustration.

Beca flinched from her hiding spot and was incredibly relieved when she heard a door open then slam shut. She subtly inched her head upwards in order to look through the windows of the car and sure enough, her father was gone.

She sighed in relief as she strained to stand up. The baseball bat beating had been one of the worst in her life.

Chloe, noticing the struggle and the signs of pain, hurriedly climbed out of her car and ran towards her girlfriend. She reached her just in time to catch her from falling over due to her injuries.

"What the fuck did he do to you?" the redhead demanded, scanning over all of the bruises and blood still spilling from the younger girl.

"He found the note and I found out he owns a baseball bat," Beca dryly answered as she leaned quite heavily on her love.

"Oh my god! What the f—*sigh*. Okay, here, give me this"—Chloe took the bag from her girlfriend as she as gently as possible maneuvered her body so that they could walk together—"and let's get you into the car."

With a lot of the ginger's help, Beca got into the passenger's seat. Chloe then opened her trunk and placed the bag inside. She closed it and climbed into the driver's side. Afterwards, she wasted no time in turning the car back on and peeling out onto the street.

Soon enough, the couple was flying through the night on the highway in Chloe's red car, away from all of the baggage in their lives. When they got far enough, Chloe allowed the car to slow down to a more acceptable speed.

She knew that they were going to have to stop at a hospital sometime soon because Beca was seconds away from passing out in her seat. For now though, she would let her sleep some of the pain away.

Before Beca completely lost consciousness though, she pulled something out of her pocket. She unfolded it and handed it to her girlfriend.

Chloe accepted it while trying to keep her eyes on the road. She read the first few words quickly and immediately figured out what it was.

It was her note.

_Beca,_

_What my dad has done—how he's treated you—it's absolutely unacceptable. I won't allow him to be so rude to both you and me. Your dad's even worse and he's been this bad since you were little. Neither of us deserve all of this shit and the only way I can think of to make it all better is for us to leave this town. Together. I know it's a crazy idea, but I think we can pull it off. We can both apply to new schools. We can find an apartment together. We can live together. We'll be away from our shitty dads, which is exactly what we both need. So what do you say?_

Chloe didn't need to read the entire thing. She had memorized it while writing it. Trying to make it perfect. However, something she did notice was a newly answered question at the bottom of the page.

_Will you please leave town with me?_

_*empty box* no or *check* yes, Juliet_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That definitely is not my favourite ending. It was a tough one, but I tried to make it work. Anyway, thanks for reading!


	6. *One Call Away - Charlie Puth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one is based off of the One Call Away music video, which is what the asterisk (*) in the chapter title means. Although in this case, the music video and song are so closely related that I suppose it could be considered to be based off of either. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Beca Mitchell had always been drawn to music. She loved everything about it. Listening to it, playing it, arranging and rearranging it, creating it.

That was exactly why she found herself strolling through the halls of her university, following the soft sound of Gabriel Fauré's "Pavane, Op. 50" instead of simply going on a walk and listening to her music as she had previously planned.

The small brunette had finally arrived at the doors to the classroom where the beautiful song was coming from and saw students hurriedly gathering their belongings and fleeing, both excited and relieved to finally be free for the rest of the day.

Once the path was cleared, Beca entered the room, unsurprised that it was one of the dance studios where the soothing melody was coming from. One: this was a perfect ballet song and two: any other type of room except for a music classroom and it probably would've been strange.

The music was still playing through the speakers for some reason, even though the class was over, so the tiny music-lover scanned the room. Her eyes quickly landed on none other than Stacie Conrad doing some post-rehearsal stretches.

It honestly still surprised her that the tall brunette was a dance major. Sure, she definitely had the body for it, but Beca was under the impression that her hobbies were exclusively nail care, the E! Network, and sex and not artistic and expressive movements of the body.

Or at least that's what she'd heard about the leggy girl. Truthfully, they'd never actually met yet and she'd kind of like to keep it that way.

Stacie, on the other hand, wanted the complete opposite. She wanted to know the brunette. She was intrigued by her. She seemed to be constantly noticing her. She'd noticed the shorter girl walk into the room. She'd noticed Beca notice her stretching. She'd noticed her exit the taxi that brought her to this University that day. She was always noticing Beca Mitchell and to say it freaked her the fuck out was an understatement.

You see, Stacie was not the kind of girl who did relationships. She was the kind of girl who went out to bars with her friends basically every single Friday or Saturday night to pick herself up some good lays.

Well, that all seemed to stop the second she watched Beca Mitchell first step foot on campus and that's what scared her so much. Stacie Conrad no longer felt the need nor the desire to go out and have one or two one-night stands every week.

All she could seem to think about nowadays was this shorter, mysterious, beautiful brunette. How she barely ever spoke to anyone except for a select few. How she was almost always seen wearing her black, oversized Beats headphones. How she expertly trod the line between classic and alternative when it came to her makeup. How her breath-taking, navy-blue eyes seemed to pierce through anyone she looked at. Like how they were right now to her.

_"Wait, what?"_

Stacie glanced up and sure enough, those striking orbs were most-likely-unknowingly staring back at her and they even held eye contact with hers for a little while.

The taller brunette was so entranced by Beca's natural beauty and her stunning eyes that she completely froze, abruptly stopping mid arm stretch, and just stared at the girl with a completely straight face.

It must've weirded the tiny freshman out though because all she did was offer an awkward smile before walking away, putting her headphones on like she'd planned to do in the first place.

Though it was a short and seemingly meaningless interaction, Stacie smirked to herself as she resumed her after-class routine and counted it as a successful one because she could've sworn she spotted a light blush on Beca's cheeks when she walked away.

_"Maybe Miss Mitchell isn't quite as immune to me as I thought she was."_

* * *

_The next day…_

Stacie confidently walked through the halls towards her class with a seemingly permanent smirk on her face.

For the first time since seeing the shorter brunette, they'd actually acknowledged each others' existences. Sure, it seemed like a small victory, but every little bit helped in her opinion.

Stacie, still feeling pretty good, entered her classroom and found one of her best friends, Chloe, already there. She sat down beside the redhead with a big smile. "Good morning, Chlo."

"Good morning to you too, chipper," Chloe greeted the taller girl with just as much enthusiasm, "Is there a reason why you're so cheerful right now? You're reminding me of…well, me."

"Well, let's just say I've officially interacted with a certain short brunette for the first time yesterday," the leggy freshman bragged.

"What? You and your mysterious crush finally talked for the first time? Congrats, Stace!" the ginger eagerly said.

"Well, I mean, I never said we _talked_ to each other yet," Stacie corrected her friend.

"Um…okay. So then how exactly did this interaction go if there was no speaking?" Chloe questioned, very confused yet intrigued by the exchange.

"Well, I was doing my stretches after dance class yesterday and then she just walked in and started watching me. Maybe even checking me out. I looked up and she looked so pretty that I don't know. I just froze. I think I kind of freaked her out a little because she just put her headphones on and walked away," the taller girl enthusiastically recounted.

The redhead eyed her, completely baffled. "Uh, okay. I get why you'd count that as an interaction I guess, but then why are you so happy? She walked away before you got a chance to actually talk to her."

"Because she blushed when she was walking away! God, she was so cute—" Stacie was about to gush some more, but she cut herself off and slyly nudged her best friend with her elbow, nodding towards something behind them.

It was her "mystery girl".

Beca had just walked in and was grabbing a seat only two rows behind them and a little to their right. She had her headphones on as usual and looked gorgeous as always even in just a simple grey t-shirt and jeans.

Chloe subtly glanced behind them and then looked back at Stacie, nodding her head once with an approving smirk. Her expression absolutely screamed _"Good choice!"_

The tall brunette smiled back and looked behind them as well and was pleasantly surprised to have caught the girl's eyes when she glanced up from her phone.

The moment was soon ruined though when a brunette guy, Jesse was his name, sat down beside Beca, immediately placing an arm over and around the back of her chair and putting a genuine smile on her face.

Stacie's smile instantly fell and she directed her attention back to the front of the room, slumping in her seat.

"Stace, I'm so sorry," Chloe said, having seen what had happened as well.

"Don't be," the leggy freshman stated in a dejected tone, "She was never mine to begin with."

* * *

Weeks had passed since finding out that Beca and Jesse were dating and Stacie didn't think she'd be able to take much more. However, she didn't think she would have to.

She, Chloe, and their other best friend, Aubrey, were sitting on the floor together, their backs against a wall of a wide, open section of hallway. The tall brunette had her laptop resting on her thighs as she checked Beca's social media accounts in a completely non-creepy way.

There was a post on Instagram from a couple days ago that was a picture of her and Jesse on a coffee date. The caption was _"Is this how real love is supposed to feel like?"_

That stung.

However, there was a tweet from this morning on her Twitter page that said, _"I wonder if there's someone out there who's really meant for me."_

Score for Stacie. Well, sort of.

"Stace," Aubrey started, snapping her friend out of her thoughts, "You know that this is borderline stalking, right? And besides, what is it about this alt girl that has you so hung up on her?"

"Okay, one: I'm not stalking her. I'm just…seeing what she's up to. Two: don't call her 'alt girl'. And three: like, just look at her. How can you not think she's beautiful?" the leggy freshman defended herself and Beca.

"Yeah, Bree, just imagine her without the heavy eyeliner," Chloe helpfully suggested.

"And the tattoos and the ear monstrosities," the blonde added disapprovingly.

"Aubrey!" Stacie scolded the uptight girl.

"She's right, Bree. That's not really fair. I have a couple tattoos of my own and you don't call me alternative. Besides, hers are all really pretty. And the piercings aren't that bad. At least they're all in her ears and not in weird places. Well, as far as we know," the flame-haired one of the group pointed out.

"Okay, fine. Yes, she's pretty, but you barely even know her. Plus she's taken," Aubrey countered.

"Come on, Bree, leave her alone. Love is in the eye of the beholder," the redhead, ever the romantic, said.

"Whoa. Um, Chlo, yeah, I think she's beautiful and…special, but love is kind of a strong word. Especially for two people who've yet to speak to each other," the brunette told her friend.

No, Stacie didn't love Beca. Not that quickly and suddenly. They'd never even spoken before. Besides, she wasn't the type of girl to fall in love. It was impossible, right?

* * *

Sometimes Stacie questioned why she had allowed Aubrey to convince her into signing up for this stupid short film competition.

_"Just give it a try. Broaden your horizons. Who knows? You might end up loving it and being good at it and it could be your second choice after dancing," _she had said.

Lies.

The leggy girl had an even higher respect for filmmakers now than before though because she couldn't even come up with a genre, let alone a plot and this thing was due in a couple months. All she had was a moviemaking method, but that's all.

Oh well. Nothing she could do now except find this damn book that Aubrey had recommended about working with film tape and ace this thing. God bless that blonde, uptight scholar for her internal library.

_"Hoh-kay, let's see…film animation, film distribution, film industry—where the hell is this damn book, Posen?_" the tall brunette thought as she passed in between two bookcases and rounded the one on her left.

Imagine her surprise when she found a certain small brunette with heavy eyeliner. She was leaning against one of the bookcases on her right, headphones hanging around her neck, and reading a music-related magazine.

She must've heard her stop or she must've seen her in her peripheral vision because she looked up and met Stacie's eyes. She didn't say anything though nor did she give the taller girl a chance to say anything before simply walking away. Again.

* * *

They were a couple months into the semester and Stacie still had yet to actually speak to Beca. However, she was getting closer to that possibility since she signed up to dance in the big show at the end of the semester after having seen the tiny musician's name on the list. Still not creepy.

The tall brunette still wondered why Beca had signed up. She didn't seem like the type to care about this sort of thing. Although, she of all people knew that you should never judge a book by its cover. Maybe it was to showcase her talent a little bit.

Anyway, Beca was sitting at the piano, going over her sheet music, while Stacie was stretching just a few feet away from the beautiful girl at the beautiful instrument.

This was her chance. She was right there, everyone around them was busy getting the stage organized, and both of them were just hanging there in silence.

The leggy girl watched in adoration as the girl wrote down what she assumed were little notes about the music.

_"Wow. I never thought I would find someone being a lefty so cute,"_ Stacie thought, taking a step closer to her crush to finally try to speak to her, but it seemed that today was just not their day. As always.

All of a sudden, Jesse burst past the curtains and grabbed his girlfriend by the arm, practically yanking her off of the piano bench. He seemed to be in a really bad mood.

"Beca, why the fuck did you sign up for this stupid shit? You knew I was planning a date for tomorrow, but now it turns out you have a rehearsal? I even had dinner reservations for before we saw that new action movie," the brown-haired boy questioned, his voice loud and demanding.

"Just move the reservation date. We can go Saturday," Beca suggested, her expression and tone annoyed.

"No, tomorrow's gonna be the last day it's in theatres. Why can't you just bail on rehearsals tomorrow?" Jesse said, getting frustrated with the short girl.

"I can't bail on rehearsals," the small brunette refused, ripping her arm from her boyfriend's grasp, then crossing both of hers.

"But you can bail on one of my moviecations? You know how sacred they are to me. I'm getting my girl more interested in what I love and I'm getting to spend time with you," the taller of the two asked in an offended voice.

"Jesse, I've told you a million times that I fucking hate most movies, okay? And you forcing me to watch one almost every single fucking night is never going to change that!" Beca shouted, "And besides these rehearsals are important to me!"

"Of course. Your fucking music is always more important than me! Am I never your first fucking priority?" Jesse yelled back, trying to grab at his girlfriend again, but she wouldn't allow it.

"Oh my fucking god! I can not deal with this anymore!" the tiny musician exploded, backing away from the other brunette, "I'm done. We're over, Jesse."

Beca rushed out of the auditorium without another word, ignoring Jesse's calls after her.

Stacie watched the brown-haired boy shake his head and throw his hands up in defeat before walking off in the opposite direction of his now ex-girlfriend.

_"Wow. Insulting her passion, then letting her go like it's the easiest fucking thing ever. What a fucking dick,"_ the leggy girl bitterly thought as she stealthily followed her crush.

She slowly and as quietly as possible pushed the door open about an inch and was met with a sight that made her heart twinge.

Beca hadn't noticed her presence as she was angrily pacing back and forth in the hall, raking her hands through her hair and trying to fight back tears. She let out a frustrated groan before practically throwing herself back against the wall and sliding down into a sitting position. Her shoulders and back shook as she failed to keep her emotions in check.

Stacie so badly wanted to sit down beside her, pull her into her, and let her cry onto her shoulder. However, she figured it wouldn't be very welcomed since they barely knew each other and this was meant to be a private moment.

Instead, she watched as the girl who she just then realized she was falling for broke down right in front of her, knowing she couldn't do anything to help her.

* * *

Later that night, Stacie pulled up into the alley beside one of the local theatres and parked her car. She climbed out and opened the backseat door. She then pulled out a box filled with everything she needed to finally finish this stupid competition.

She knew she wasn't going to win after hearing what some other people had managed to put together. She didn't have the skills nor the drive to and that was fine with her. She never had huge expectations for this anyway. She still had to show something though, so she put together this cute, little story using rearranged film tape from old movies. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad in her opinion. It was presentable.

Well, as soon as she put it all together.

* * *

Beca wandered around the streets of the city, in desperate need of some air and space.

As expected, Jesse had been at the door of her dorm room, waiting for her so that he could beg for her forgiveness and for her to take him back.

She of course refused though. Anyone who didn't understand how important her music was to her and who would insult it like that was not someone she wanted to be with.

Besides, she was quickly losing interest in him and his "moviecations" that he forced her to take part in no matter how often or loudly she protested.

_"He accuses me of loving my music more than him when he has a literal library of movies that I've never been allowed to touch. Well, same goes for my music equipment. What a fucking hypocrite."_

At some point during her walk, Beca had arrived at one of the theatres and on the marquee was a pretty interesting-sounding title and the last showing was about to start in a couple minutes.

_"Oh right. They're playing the entries for that newbie filmmaking competition Jesse was thinking about entering,"_ the small brunette recalled, _"Well, not doing anything anyway."_

* * *

Stacie slumped back into the chair at the desk in the projection room as she released a bored sigh. She had finished putting together her short film earlier and had just finished viewing her second showing.

_"Just one more,"_ she tiredly thought as she looked at all of the film tape she hadn't used that was hung up everywhere in front of her, _"What the hell am I gonna do with all of this?"_

The leggy freshman shook her head in disappointment at the waste of material. She then moved to sit on the chair beside the window for the projector to watch a couple of the seats slowly become occupied. _"Cool idea, crappy efficiency."_

Now, she didn't expect there to be many people in the first place. Add the fact that it was her last showing, she actually expected there to be no one.

However, no. There were a few people, including a certain, tiny yet beautiful brunette.

Her eyes widened to nearly the size of frisbees when she noticed the girl walk in.

For one thing, she had made it quite obvious that she did not like movies, so why she decided to come watch some rookie's short film competition entry was beyond Stacie.

Another thing was that she had just broken up with her boyfriend that afternoon. If she was Beca, she wouldn't even want to leave her bed, let alone her dorm room, even though she was the "dumper", not the "dumpee".

Although, she didn't look like she was exactly thrilled to be out either and that was definitely not okay with the tall brunette. She shouldn't be the one who's upset for breaking up with her asshole of a now-ex-boyfriend. It should be Jesse who's kicking himself for having let such an amazing girl go.

Stacie furrowed her eyebrows in thought as she suddenly got an idea. She was sure this would embarrass her, but she was also certain it would make that girl smile and that would make it worth the humiliation.

Quickly, the leggy freshman scanned through the unused film tape and grabbed all of the ones she'd need. She hurriedly started putting together an all new montage, knowing how crappy it would look but not caring at all.

Once the new footage was ready, she wrapped it around a film reel, replaced her short movie with it, and rapidly yet carefully fed it into the projector part.

Stacie eagerly pressed the "start" button and watched as the projector started up. She then let her eyes settle on her crush to see her reaction, her teeth nibbling on the corner of her lower lip.

Beca watched the first clip and noticed that it was definitely not the beginning of any kind of film.

This person, for some reason, decided to start their movie off with the climax of some old, black and white movie. There was a western "damsel in distress" tied to some tracks and a train coming right at her.

Then the video suddenly cut to the next slide, which was a clip of the hero of a different movie kicking down a door and bursting into a room to probably save his girl in need of help.

_"What the actual fuck?"_ Beca thought as she watched the horribly organized and edited short film. She was picky, but this was just shit.

She turned to see who the creator of this awful film was when she met eyes with the one and only Stacie Conrad.

The taller girl was sitting at the window for the projector and looking right at her. She then sent her a little smile that made her feel…special maybe? As if the crappy movie was possibly made specifically for her. And that kind of made her lips turn upward a little too.

Still smiling a bit, Beca turned back to the screen and watched some more of the video.

This clip was of a mouse in a superhero costume, flying downward and using some kind of lightning superpower out of his hands.

The next was back to the second movie and it was the hero and his girl being reunited after he saved the day. They very over-dramatically threw their hands in the air and flung their arms around one another in celebration.

Finally, a bunch of other celebratory scenes started playing and she really started to understand what Stacie was trying to tell her now. _"Wow. Never knew Miss Conrad could be such a softie."_

The thought made Beca smile even wider as she kept sharing glances back with the girl, who was also grinning very broadly.

As the clips continued on, they surprisingly got even worse and people even started throwing popcorn at the window, but that did nothing to deter either of the brunettes' smiles. They just ignored everyone and continued staring and smiling at each other.

* * *

After the movie, Stacie was cleaning everything in the projection room up when she finally heard the unmistakable voice of her crush sound from behind her, "Hey. Stacie, right?"

The taller brunette spun around and came face-to-face with Beca Mitchell, who was talking to her at last!

"Hey. Yeah, it's Stacie. And you're Beca, right?" the leggy freshman responded as casually as possible, even though she was internally celebrating that they were finally speaking to each other, as if she didn't already know her name.

"That's right," Beca replied, "So…about the movie"—Stacie held her breath, hoping she wasn't about to tell her how creepy and weird what she just did was—"I know we don't really know each other, but I can't help but feel like that montage was some kind of message to me specifically."

"Oh, it was," the tall brunette answered very bluntly, which made her crush laugh a little, "Look, you're right about not knowing each other much, but I've seen you around a lot obviously. I also watched you break up with Jesse and I'll be honest with you, that was probably one of the smartest choices I've seen you make."

Beca furrowed her eyebrows in slight offence, but before she could say anything, Stacie continued as she slowly inched closer to the other girl.

"Sorry. No offence and you probably didn't really want my opinion anyway, but I've just seen him treat you like crap and I can't stand that. You deserve so much better than that and that's what I wanted to show you in my video."

She was going to shut up then, but decided to add one more thing, "I also…really like you, so that would be another thing I had against Jesse. So…yeah."

Okay, maybe she shouldn't have added that part.

"I've heard you're pretty forward and you definitely did not disappoint," Beca chuckled, "Well, I really appreciate the video and the honesty. And…"—she got closer to the taller brunette as well—"I guess if you're gonna be that honest, I should return the favour. Part of the reason why I broke up with Jesse was because…I really like you too. Like,_ a lot_, heh."

Okay, maybe she was right to add that part.

"Would you like to go on a date with me on Saturday night?" the shorter brunette asked with a nervous smile, even though she was already 95% sure of the answer.

"Hm…Let me think about it," Stacie teased, pretending to ponder the question, which earned her a cute, little smirk and expectant head tilt, "Yeah, I suppose I can do that for you."

"Shut up, you dick," Beca laughed as she raised herself onto her tiptoes so that she could place a quick kiss on the taller girl's cheek, "Thanks again for making a really shitty day much better. And I can't wait for Saturday night."

"I'll be counting the minutes," the leggy freshman lovingly responded as she played with the tiny musician's dainty fingers.

"God, you're so cheesy," Beca chuckled, "It's late. We should be getting back to our dorms. I'll see you around, Stace."

"Indeed you will, Bec," Stacie called after the exiting brunette.

Even after Beca left and Stacie realized she had more stuff to put away, she was still smiling like an idiot. It took months and months of fawning, but it finally paid off! She had a date with Beca Mitchell! Nothing could bring her down in this moment. She couldn't wait to tell Chloe and brag to Aubrey that she was right to wait.

Once everything was in order, Stacie grabbed her jacket and went for her keys in her pocket but felt something extra. A piece of paper. Curious.

She excitedly took it out and discovered that it was a note from Beca.

_"Loved the crappy and cheesy video. Can't wait to see you again. Can't wait to talk to you again either, but maybe it won't have to be too long._

_xxx-xxx-xxxx_

_Beca_

_Btw, your editing skills are for shit ;-P"_

Stacie didn't care that she was out in the open. She excitedly squealed and hopped up and down in celebration as she internally chanted, _"I got her number! I got her number! I got her number!"_

She eagerly entered the number into her contacts (yes, she added a heart at the end of her contact name) and composed a new text.

_"Good job getting that note into my jacket, creep :-P"_ –Stacie

_"Also, I'll have you know, I made that video in less than ten minutes and I made it just for you, Bec."_ –Stacie

_"Trust me, I could tell. With both statements."_ –Beca

_"And I'd rather be a creep than walk away without leaving you with my number ;-)"_ –Beca

_"Oh, I'm completely fine with that, don't worry. At least now you know that if you ever need me, I'll always just be one call away."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.


	7. I Will Always Be Yours - Ben Rector (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This half of the story is basically all conversational dialogue, so if that bores you, go ahead and skip it and wait for the second half. I'm pretty sure, with what I have planned, you'll still be able to understand everything that happens if you just read the second half. There'll still be a lot of dialogue in the next as well, since it is a continuation of this, but there'll be more other stuff too. This story's basically purely Bechloe fluff though, so if you like that, cool. I tried to make this part at least pretty interesting, maybe funny if you find my humour funny. If it's not and you don't, oh well. Don't read, lol. If it is and you do, party. Read on.
> 
> I would just like to establish this: please, please, PLEASE know that this story is PURELY fiction, just with some real life aspects and references in it. I am not trying to discredit any real musical artists, producers, composers, etc nor their work. I am not trying to say that the music on the Pitch Perfect soundtrack is superior to all other music. I am not trying to insult any musicians or anyone at all. I'm not even saying most of what Beca does in this story is realistic or even possible for one human being to do. I'm NOT saying ANY of that. This is just the story I wrote to entertain you guys after having listened to this song. That is all. So, please, I really do hope no one takes any offense on behalf of themselves or their favourite artists while reading this.
> 
> I think that's all, lol. Thank you for bearing with me and my long-ass author's note. Now, FINALLY, without further ado, here is Part One of I Will Always Be Yours. Hope you enjoy.

The studio audience on the set of The Ellen Degeneres Show applauded excitedly as the talk show host greeted her at-home viewers through the camera, "My first guest is, uh, a very promising up-and-comer in the music industry. Please welcome Grammy-nominated music producer/artist, Beca Mitchell!"

The spectators cheered loudly as the aforementioned young woman eagerly walked out, smiling and waving at the fans.

It was her very first time being on the Ellen Show and she was both super excited yet super nervous. She and the other girls had only been doing these big-time, broadcasted interviews for a couple months now, so they were still getting used to everything: the questions, the crowd, the live-filming, the crew giving all of these directions. It all still felt pretty overwhelming.

"Hi, Beca," Ellen greeted her guest.

"Hi. It's amazing to finally be able to meet you. You're such an amazing and kind and funny and inspirational person," Beca returned, sincerity in her words and fondness in her voice.

"Thank you. Uh, I-I'm glad I could finally meet you too. I, uh, I think you're a very talented person. I mean, you have, uh, one heck of a voice and I've heard you're a really sweet girl—" the talk show host complimented the younger woman, only for her to jokingly protest at the comment.

"Was it Stacie?" the small brunette questioned, "She's always trying to tear down the image I try to put out there. I say I'm badass, she says I'm adorable. I say I'm cool, she says I'm a dork. And so on."

"Well, um, first of all, uh, yes," Ellen answered very straightforwardly, which made Beca smile in embarrassment and nod, "Second, uh, is she often wrong about correcting you?"

There was a beat of silence before a quiet, "No."

The comedian and her audience laughed at the young woman's adorableness.

"So…so you-you started your career with DJ Khaled's record label, right?" Ellen started her interview.

"Yes. Yeah, I started with We The Best Music Group. One of his music executives, Theo Burnet, kinda 'discovered' me, I guess, during the USO Tour that I performed in with my former a capella group about two years ago. He, like, saw potential in me and he pointed it out to Khaled.

"In the end, they made me the opener for the final stop of the tour and offered me a deal with his label," Beca recounted.

"Wow. That must've been fantastic for you, but I mean, who can blame them? I don't know anyone who hasn't seen _and_ loved your Freedom '90! performance, which was so amazing by the way," the talk show host said.

"Aww, thank you so much," the musical artist responded with an appreciative grin.

"It was! Uh, but a couple months after releasing your first few singles with, uh, DJ Khaled's label, you, uh, you decided to leave his and start your own, then finish your album?" Ellen asked, seeing if she'd done her research correctly.

"Yeah, I-I did. You know, I really like being a musical artist. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy it so much more than I'd initially thought I would. Finally hearing my own music out there in the world, but with my voice. It's—it feels so incredible.

"But I really missed being behind the soundboard, you know? That's what I'd set out to do in the first place since I was…God, so young that I don't even remember. I kinda wanted to, not go back to that, but, like, bring it back. You know what I mean?" Beca explained.

"I believe I do. So you then started your own label and are now also the head producer there, yeah?" the comedian replied.

"Yes. That's right. I started Titanium Records with some of my very talented best friends from the Bellas and my best guy friend, director extraordinaire Jesse Swanson," the small brunette shared.

A picture of Beca, Chloe, Stacie, Aubrey, Emily, Fat Amy, Cynthia Rose, Jessica, Ashley, Flo, and Jesse in front of the Titanium Records building for the first time appeared on the back screen.

"Aubrey right there is one of my execs. She's literally like my right hand woman. Amy there had recently inherited a huge fortune, so she decided to invest in us and our new business. The others, Emily, Cynthia Rose, and Jessica and Ashley, were my very first artists. Stacie and Flo there are the amazing choreographers and dance coaches behind all of our performances and I mentioned Jesse before who has directed each one of our music videos.

"They were all my very first coworkers and I couldn't be more proud and thankful for that and for them," Beca added information to the previous statement, "Not to mention the fact that I randomly called them up like, 'Hey, guys! I'm starting my own record label! Wanna pack up all of your stuff and move to LA to be my first artists?' And they were just like, 'Party.'"

Ellen and the audience laughed at the anecdote.

"Right, right. Now, uh, working with your, uh, your best friends is amazing. It's, uh, it's really what everyone wishes for, but, uh, just out of my own curiosity, are you, uh, planning on looking for more artists outside of them?" the talk show host inquired.

"Well," the Grammy nominee playfully drawled, "Uh, I'm-I'm kidding. Uh, of course! I know very well that there's so much talent out there and I might have my eye on a couple people."

"Would, uh, would it be too much to ask who maybe?" Ellen hopefully questioned.

"Um, you know what? I guess I could tell you guys about the ones who I've already contacted and who've contacted me back positively," Beca decided, "So let me just say that I hate how people are categorized and I think that happens with so many people who start their careers in fame pretty early on in their lives, like Disney Channel stars.

"Do I think that some of them may get a little more attention than they deserve? Yes. But then there are some that I truly see potential that I could work with. So I've talked with Sofia Carson and Dove Cameron from that franchise about the kids of the Disney villains, Descendants. I've talked with Sabrina Carpenter and Naomi Scott.

"I've talked with Tori Kelly too. I found this band of two brothers who do awesome covers and a couple originals on Instagram, the Page Brothers. I met Pentatonix at the World Championships of A Capella a couple years ago and just reconnected with them. And then another one of my friends from college who has an amazing voice, Benji Applebaum. We've talked about possibly starting up a musical theatre project together.

"So yeah, I've gotten a couple new, very talented artists who I'm very excited to get to work with."

"Yeah. Yeah, I've heard of a couple of them and, uh, I think they'll all be great too. And, uh, I-I'm sure they'll love getting to work with you too. Not only because you're, uh, an amazing person, but, uh, because it's obvious that you are incredibly talented yourself and, uh, because you and your friends have, uh, really been working hard since founding your record label to get Titanium Records and your own names up there. I mean, you've gotten how many Grammy nominations? Let's take a look," the talk show host asked.

On the big screen behind them and the small screen in front of them, a list of Beca's and her friends' nominations showed up:

_Best Music Video_ _ – _ ** _Most Girls_ ** _ by Jesse Swanson and Emily Junk_

_Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals_ _ – _ ** _Freedom! '90_ ** _ by Beca Mitchell_

_Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical_ _ – _ ** _Freedom! '90_ ** _ by Beca Mitchell_

_Producer of the Year, Non-Classical_ _ – Beca Mitchell_ _  
_

_Best Pop Duo/Group Performance_ _ – _ ** _Take Me or Leave Me_ ** _ by Jessica & Ashley_

_Best R&B Performance_ _ – _ ** _Crazy Youngsters_ ** _ by Cynthia Rose Adams_

_Best R&B Song_ _ – _ ** _Crazy Youngsters_ ** _ by Cynthia Rose Adams_

_Best R&B Album_ _ – _ ** _Crazy Youngsters _ ** _by Cynthia Rose Adams_

_Best Rap/Sung Performance_ _ – _ ** _At My Best_ ** _ by Cynthia Rose Adams, Beca Mitchell & Emily Junk_

_Best Pop Solo Performance_ _ – _ ** _Most Girls_ ** _ by Emily Junk_

_Best Pop Vocal Album_ _ – _ ** _Love Myself_ ** _ by Emily Junk_

_Best New Artist_ _ – Emily Junk_

_Record of the Year_ _ – _ ** _Freedom! '90_ ** _ by Beca Mitchell_

_Song of the Year_ _ – _ ** _Freedom! '90_ ** _ by Beca Mitchell_

_Album of the Year_ _ – _ ** _Freedom! '90_ ** _ by Beca Mitchell_

"Wow! Look at all of them!"—the audience roared and clapped in admiration—"So, uh, you produced every single one of these songs and all of the others on their albums?" Ellen questioned in wonderment.

"Well, they were very much collaborative projects, but yes. I was the main music producer for each of the girls' songs," Beca replied, earning a loud round of applause.

"That is so amazing," the interviewer complimented the young music producer, "So, uh, speaking of the girls, y'all started off competing in, uh, a collegiate a cappella competition and y'all did so well that your group had entered the mainstream world a little, right? I mean, you performed for the former president, Obama, at the Kennedy Centre for his birthday."

A picture of the Bellas' Kennedy Centre performance appeared on the back screen. Luckily, it was one from before the whole commando incident.

"Uh, yeah, but, uh, that was far from the Bellas' best performance. We had tried to do some really advanced stuff, but it obviously hadn't ended really well if you guys unfortunately remember," Beca responded.

"Yeah. Yeah, well, it's a hard thing to forget," the blonde stated, which caused the younger woman to laugh and agree, "But, uh, putting that one aside, I've seen a video of your A capella World Championship performance. The last song you guys sang was an original, right?"

The back screen then showed a picture of the Bellas at Worlds, singing Flashlight with all of the past Bellas and the crowd with their lights.

"Yes. Flashlight. It was written by Emily. She'd started it before her freshman year and she'd been working on it and a couple more I think throughout the year," the music producer recounted, "At a Bellas group retreat thing, I offered to help her finish and produce it. She really eagerly said yes, so we maybe kinda sorta snuck into the studio I was interning at and made the song.

"My boss at the internship checked it out and loved it. He had a couple suggestions, so we added them and tried a couple other things when she joined the label. Then it became the first song on her album and her very first single."

"Right. Right. And then you incorporated it into your winning performance, which was also so good. The idea of, uh, bringing past Bellas back for, uh, vocal accompaniment. So impressive," Ellen said, for which her guest star thanked her, "Now, I've seen videos of Cheap Thrills and I Don't Like It, I Love It, which are both aca-amazing—Did I do that right?"

Beca and the audience laughed she said, "Yeah. Yep, that-that was perfect."

The interviewer grinned playfully and continued, "Uh, yeah. Those two performances are so good, but I'd like to talk about Freedom! '90"—a picture of Beca and the Bellas on stage during the Freedom! '90 performance in Nice, France appeared on both screens—"Now, that's the song that you opened for DJ Khaled with, right?"

"Yes," the small brunette confirmed with a nod.

"And yet you didn't release it when you were signed with his label?" Ellen questioned curiously.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's a really special song to me and I wanted to save it for later, so I started off with some of my other songs," Beca replied.

"Right. Yeah, that makes sense," the blonde woman agreed, "Why though is it special to you?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong. All of my songs are special and important to me for their own reasons, but this one was just so significant in my life," the musical artist explained, "You know, it was our last performance as the Bellas, so that makes it incredibly important to all of us really. It was like saying goodbye to a big part of our lives.

"I mean, we still consider ourselves Bellas and we text through the Bellas group chat we have every single day, but we're all now a part of the lineage of past Bellas. You know, our 'generation' I guess you could say officially retired after that performance.

"And yeah, it was really sad because we knew we had to finally move on and go our own ways, but it also showed how far we'd come as a group and as individuals. It showed how close we'd become and how strong our bond is."

"That is so beautiful and sweet," Ellen commented, "You know, when you see y'all together, it-it really shows how deep your connections with each other are. How much y'all care about each other and, uh, love each other. It's such an amazing thing to see and, uh, everyone loves your group. So let's just take a moment to watch a little clip of your Freedom! '90 performance."

It was the last little part of the song. The outro when the music gets softer and the Bellas huddle together before Beca starts walking forward, singing the last few lines.

The video continued though and it played the part at the end when the short singer turned towards Chloe and they wrapped each other into a tight hug and shared a kiss.

A couple seconds later, their lips separated but their bodies didn't. It was then that the rest of the Bellas joined them in a big group hug after having given them some time for their little moment.

"Absolutely beautiful," Ellen commented on the video when it ended, "Uh, so we're gonna take, uh, a quick, little break, but, uh, when we come back, we're gonna talk some more about, uh, what happened at the end there, okay?"

"Aha. Yeah, sure. Of course," the small brunette eagerly agreed.

"Okay, we'll be right back."

* * *

"We're back with Beca Mitchell and, uh, before the break, we watched, uh, a clip of her first ever performance of Freedom! '90 and, uh, at the end of the song, you had, uh, a little moment with one of your fellow Bellas, your girlfriend and actress Chloe Beale," Ellen recapped, resuming her interview and eliciting a roar of applause.

Just at the mere mention of her, Beca's smile grew and her eyes glimmered a little. "Yes."

"Now, uh, I know you two prefer to keep your relationship, uh, on the down-low, which I can totally understand, but why don't you tell me a little about you guys?" the talk show host suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, you know, we-we do like to keep us private. Uh, we believe it's best not to let a bunch of outside opinions and views of people we don't even know on a personal level influence our relationship," the small brunette told the interviewer, "But we talked earlier and we agreed to finally let you guys in on a little bit of us just this once, just for you, Ellen."

"Well, uh, I-I'm honoured and, uh, you can believe I'm definitely gonna take you up on that offer," Ellen responded with a soft and appreciative smile, "So, I really just wanna know the basics. How'd you meet? When'd you meet? Where'd you meet? Etc."

"Um, so Chloe and I went to the same University. On my first day there, I went to the activities fair and she and Aubrey were at a booth for the Bellas," Beca recounted, "They stopped me and tried to convince me to audition. I said no and that I don't sing at first, but then I…changed my mind."

"Why, uh, why was there a little pause there?" the blonde woman asked curiously, which caused her guest to blush, "Oh, this is gonna be good."

"It's-it's not a big thing. It-it just—it—Ugh! Okay!" the music producer stuttered before somewhat reluctantly giving in, "So, I didn't wanna go to college at first. I wanted to move out here, to California, but since my dad's a professor at Barden, he got me to go there.

"A month after the activities fair, I made a deal with my dad that if I joined one group and attended classes and stuck it out for the rest of the year, I could drop out and he'd support me, both emotionally and financially.

"So…later that night, I went to the showers…"

Ellen's eyebrows raised in intrigue at the mention of the showers while the audience "ooh"ed and she commented surely, "Here comes the good part."

Beca let out a breathy laugh and continued, her cheeks still bright red, "So, I was singing while I got to one of the stalls, closed the curtain, turned on the water, and whatever.

"I got to the chorus when all of a sudden, a voice comes from behind me, yelling, 'You _can_ sing!'"—the audience collectively gasped and laughed, so she waited until she was able to be heard again—"So I turn around, nearly having a heart attack, and find Chloe right there, barely two feet away, just as *ahem* unclothed as me, in my shower stall."

Ellen was now donning a cheeky grin and the audience was laughing out loud at the story.

"So, uh," the blonde woman started a little teasingly once everyone settled down a little, "So, you two _didn't_ start dating after that?"

Beca threw her head back as she laughed out loud and clapped her hands together. When she recovered, she jokingly replied, "Well, I did consider"—Ellen and the audience laughed—"No. No, I, uh, I actually dated Jesse for almost all of college and a year afterwards, but we broke up because of a long distance thing. Then Chloe and I…rediscovered some feelings we—well, I—had ignored and now, here we are."

"Wow. So you two didn't start dating for a while after meeting," the talk show host stated more than asked, "Uh, just out of curiosity, what song were you singing when you were ambushed in the shower?"

The small brunette laughed and responded, "Um, that's a very good question. Uh…"

There was a rather lengthy moment of silence as Ellen waited for an answer, which caused some laughter from the audience.

She received nothing, so she prompted the younger woman to continue, "Is…Is there going to be a very good answer to my very good question? Or an answer at all?"

Beca and the audience laughed at that, so the musical artist finally replied, but too quietly for even Ellen, who was sitting right beside her, couldn't hear her.

"Sorry? What was that?" the interviewer asked, amused by the hesitance to reveal the name of the song.

Beca smiled a little in embarrassment, still blushing profusely. She pursed her lips, then bit her lower one as she summoned the courage to say it. "Titanium."

The entire audience, even the crew behind the cameras, burst into laughter and applause while Ellen's mouth slowly fell open in surprise and Beca tried to hide her face with her hair.

"So!"—it took awhile for everyone to settle down—"So…so Titanium Records," the blonde woman started, more cheering already erupting, "So you named your record label…after the song that you were singing when your future girlfriend ambushed you in the showers."

The music producer pursed her lips, pretending to consider her answer for a moment, before saying, "Possibly."

Ellen and the audience laughed at the response.

"Well, I'm, uh, I'm glad I finally solved that mystery," the talk show host commented, "You know what though? It may be, uh, a sorta weird origin for the name of your label, but wh-what I'm mostly hearing is, uh, you named your label after, uh, what I seem to understand is, uh, a fond memory of the girl you love. Am I right?"

"That's exactly right, Ellen," Beca confirmed with a nod, "It may have been one of the strangest things to have ever happened to me, but it really did change my life. _Chloe_ really changed my life and I will be forever grateful to her for that."

"You know, it's just amazing and so beautiful hearing you talk about her," Ellen told her guest, "You seem to really be in love with her."

The small brunette smiled softly and spoke about her girlfriend, "I am. Really. It-it's that feeling like I-I don't even remember _not_ being in love with her and I can't imagine being without her.

"She's the only person I'd ever consider running through flames for. I'd push back fate for her. She's the first person I'd broken down my walls and defences for since I was little, when I wasn't in the best place mentally, physically, financially. I've given her my heart—I've entrusted her with it. I'd give my final breath to her if it meant she would live on. I'd give it all to her and I know she'd do the same for me.

"I like to think that what we have is special because it was just naturally born between us, but also because we work to maintain it together by always supporting each other. Helping each other through hard times. Being with each other through good times.

"I really believe that she's the love of my life and the one I'm gonna be with for the rest of my life—"

"I really think so too, baby," an unmistakable voice came from behind Beca that made her jump up from her seat and spin around.

It was Chloe, leaning over the back of the sofa she'd just been sitting on.

Little had the musical artist known, Ellen had invited her girlfriend for a surprise additional guest appearance. She had been listening to every single word backstage and she'd started walking out to the stage, behind Beca, while she spoke so lovingly about her.

The young couple immediately rounded the sofa and enveloped each other in a big hug and a couple of quick kisses while Ellen stood and introduced the new guest and once again cut for commercial.

The cameras turned off and the girls finally separated. Chloe then shared a shorter, much more friendly hug with the host. Afterwards, they all sat down, the two Bellas sitting very close to each other and holding hands, their fingers interlaced.

"Oh my god! I can't believe—How did you—I thought you—" Beca stuttered in astonishment that Ellen and Chloe had surprised her like this.

The redhead had said she was going to be doing her own interview and some promotion stuff for her first and latest movie with her co-stars for BuzzFeed.

"I may have lied a little bit," Chloe sheepishly admitted, "I'm sorry. The BuzzFeed thing is actually _next_ Saturday, not tomorrow. I had to though in order to keep the secret."

"I was able to make your interview an extended one since we've technically finished your segment and started my next, which is actually with your lovely girlfriend here," Ellen revealed, "I hope you two don't mind staying in the spotlight together for just another five minutes or so."

"Of course we don't mind," Beca answered for both her and her significant other, "After all of the trouble everyone went through to organize this, it'd be a waste if we didn't continue."

"Perfect," the blonde responded, "Now, about this shower incident…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, I mean absolutely ZERO offense to anyone with my storywriting (especially Ellen DeGeneres with her speaking quirks, lol). Thank you for the patience as always and thanks for reading. Part Two is to come.


	8. Supermarket Flowers - Ed Sheeran (Part I)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Very long and full of sadness. Elements from this story taken from The Hollars as well.
> 
> Happy birthday to the amazing, hilarious, talented, adorable, stunning Queen herself, Anna Effing Kendrick! Sorry to be posting something so sad on her birthday, but this was all I had prepared for the Pitch Perfect Fandom. No matter! It’s her 35th even though she still looks beautiful enough to still be in her twenties. Hope she has an awesome day and hope you enjoy this story!

"Beca?"

Beca Mitchell snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in while staring at the crisp, white sheets on the empty hospital bed. Her head shot up when she heard the quiet call of her name. It was in the soft voice of her redheaded best friend of eight years and girlfriend, now fiancée, of six-and-a-half years, Chloe Beale.

"Sorry. Sorry," the small brunette apologized as she distraughtly resumed tidying up the room from their stay while also trying to subtly wipe at her eyes, even though the other woman had already noticed the unshed tears.

"Baby, you don't have to apologize for needing time for everything to sink in. It's a lot to process. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it and we weren't even, you know, biologically related. She was one of the most important people in your life and it's okay not to be okay after losing her," the flame-haired Bella said.

Beca only shook her head a little in response. She then uncovered the hidden bottle of old ginger beer that her father had snuck into the building and had been sipping only hours earlier. She picked it up and brought it to the bathroom sink, then poured the liquid of the 3/4-full glass bottle (he had quickly lost the mood to drink, but he still wanted to exude positive vibes) down the drain. She then hid the bottle in a bag that she'd brought with her.

Chloe watched her fiancée with sympathetic eyes when she returned as she started reaching for the cup of day-old tea. She hesitated however for a moment before her fingertips made contact with the now-cool ceramic material. She just stood there and stared at what little dark liquid was left for almost fifteen seconds, knowing that this was the very last thing to have been consumed by her.

_Five rhythmic knocks on the door drew her attention to the entrance to her room and a smile instantly appeared when she saw the people who entered._

_"Hey," Beca softly greeted the woman on the bed, "We come bearing gifts."_

_"Let me guess. An apple cinnamon tea, one milk, two sugars, in my favourite mug and an apple fritter from my favourite bakery two blocks away from the house?" she asked._

_The four visitors smiled cheekily as they revealed exactly those items to the patient._

_"Dad also snuck a beer in," the small brunette teasingly informed, pulling the tray table over for her and placing the donut and tea onto it._

_She clicked her tongue and gave the man a joking look of disapproval. "William."_

_"What? It's just a little pre-celebration for when you get out of here," the man told her, subtly trying to reassure her of the bigger matter._

_If only he could've been telling the truth._

Shaking her head of the memory, Beca finally picked the mug up with a slightly trembling hand. She dumped its contents down the same sink and quickly rinsed it out before gently putting it into the bag too.

She then started to pack all of the "Get Well Soon" cards and the couple of stuffed animals that had been delivered to the room with just as much tenderness as with the cup.

Once the room was completely void of any of their remaining belongings, the shorter Bella turned to the taller one and nodded once.

Chloe nodded back and offered a small smile, extending her hand for the younger woman to take, which she did.

The couple started to leave, when Beca paused and looked back into the room that she knew she'd never forget for several reasons, allowing the memories to play through one last time.

Her attention was brought back to her fiancée when she felt a gentle hand trail from the back of her head down to the dip in her lower back.

She refocused on Chloe and found eyes filled with unshed tears and another smile on the redhead's gorgeous face. This made the other woman's heart melt at the unadulterated love and care from her significant other.

Beca returned the expression and gave the slightly taller girl a quick but loving peck on the lips before allowing herself to be led out of the room, out of the building, and to her father's car.

Chloe was behind the wheel as they both knew that the younger woman would be in no shape to drive. They buckled themselves in and Beca sat in the passenger seat, watching the hospital grow smaller in the side mirror.

_The landline's ringtone rang throughout the dark apartment, waking both of its occupants, who groaned and mentally cursed whoever was calling them at 3:14 am._

_Beca reluctantly rolled over and picked up the device. She checked the caller ID and accepted the call with a slightly annoyed eye-roll._

_Holding the phone up to her ear, she answered with an _enthusiastic_, "The hell, dad? You know how late it is here in LA?"_

_There was silence as the caller spoke and Chloe tried to roll over and fall back asleep, but she was unsuccessful when her fiancée shot up into a sitting position, causing her to do the same, and exclaimed, "Wait, what?"_

_The ginger blinked a couple times in an attempt to rid her eyes of the heaviness and asked in a groggy voice, "What? What's happening?"_

_"Oh my god…Yeah, of course. I'll be there as soon as I can…Okay, I'll see you soon…Bye, dad. Love you too."_

_The second she ended the call, Beca was up and moving. She instantly dropped her suitcase onto the bed and started shoving her things into it in a disoriented rush._

_"Beca, what's going on?" Chloe asked again, waking up a little more with each passing second as she watched her frantic fiancée._

_It was then that she noticed the tears rapidly accumulating in the younger woman's eyes and she was immediately on high alert._

_"Hey. Hey, Beca. Sweetie, what's wrong?" the redhead softly questioned, approaching the shorter Bella and placing a comforting hand on her left upper-arm and right forearm._

_"My mom's in the hospital. She had a stroke," was all Beca could utter without breaking apart._

_Chloe's mouth fell open, her eyes tearing up as well, and she started to get up too._

_"Keep packing. I'll go book us two tickets on the earliest flight."_

* * *

It's been a full week since cleaning out Beca's mother's hospital room. It seemed like such a long time ago.

The funeral had been lovely. The small brunette and her father had arranged it entirely with a little bit of input from Chloe and Sheila while William also organized other plans.

It was a decently private ceremony. Closed-casket. Only her mother's immediate family plus their significant others if they had one, her mother's closest friends, a handful of her grandparents' dearest friends, some of her uncle's best friends, and a few of the Bellas had been invited.

Chloe had never left her side (which Beca was incredibly thankful for, knowing that her fiancée was her only source of strength now). Stacie and Aubrey had flown in from LA and Emily too. Fat Amy had jumped into her private jet and arrived from having been in Tokyo.

The other Bellas unfortunately were unavailable, but they'd sent their deepest condolences. Many texts and videos from them, telling her how much they sympathized with her. So though they weren't there physically, they were still there for her even though she herself was barely there and she couldn't express her gratitude towards and for her second family.

Soon enough, the burial was finished and people were starting to leave with tear tracks on their faces and heavy hearts in their chests.

"I'll see you at the house, yeah?" William spoke softly into Beca's ear, who simply nodded, "Are you sure you want to help with this? Sheila and I can handle it. We can maybe ask her brother and parents instead. He hasn't left yet."

The petite woman shook her head and assured her father, "No. No, dad, Uncle Mike's already doing enough and Grandma and Grandpa won't even be able to pull up onto that street again. Besides, I have to do this for her."

"Honey, don't push yourself. No one expects you to be able to immediately feel better. We all know that she was one of the most important people in your life. You're allowed to mourn that loss. You're allowed to not be okay," the man told his daughter.

"I know, dad," Beca sincerely responded, staring up into his warm, brown eyes to show him that she really didn't want to skip this.

"Okay. So I'll see you there," William said, then got into Sheila's car with his wife.

The tiny Bella waved at the couple as they drove away before turning towards her own guests and thanking them for attending.

"Anything for you, love. Yeah, of course. No problem, Becs. We'll always be there for you. Bellas for life, dude," the five girls replied.

"Anytime, Beca. Really. We're all just a phone call away. Any of us," Aubrey reminded her short friend, giving her a tight hug.

"I know. Thanks, Bree. And thank you guys too," Beca responded, feeling incredibly lucky for the friends she'd made, all thanks to her wonderful fiancée.

Aubrey nodded and started to leave with her tall, strawberry-blonde wife, who offered the much smaller woman a little smile and a hug before following the other blonde.

"Of course, Beca. I'll see you back in LA, aca-moms," Emily lightly joked, hoping to get a little something from the couple, which was successful as the pair smiled lightly at the younger Bella.

She then walked away as well, climbing into a taxi.

"Just remember, Beca: you're the Big BM. You're one of the strongest people I know and I've met Dwayne The Rock Johnson…fleetingly…and possibly somewhat illegally, but that's besides the point.

"And plus, you're even stronger with the ginger at your side, because together you're Beca and Chloe, also known as Bhloe. And nothing makes you feel better than a good Bhloe," Fat Amy rambled, which made the two others both furrow their eyebrows in confusion but also smile slightly.

"Thanks, Ames," Beca said to her unusual friend, who somehow always managed to make her smile even when she was at her lowest.

The large blonde pulled the couple into a bear hug, lifting them both off of the ground, before letting them back down and made her way over to her rental car.

"We should be heading back too," Chloe told her fiancée, gently grabbing her hand and nodding towards their own rental car.

"Right. Do you mind driving?" Beca asked before realizing that she hasn't driven a single time this trip and that it's all been on her significant other, "I'm sorry. I know you've been driving so much—" _  
_

"Becs, it's all good. Remember what your dad said. Nobody expects you to be able to immediately feel better," the redhead reassured the younger woman, then climbed into the driver's seat.

The two drove to Beca's mother's house, their hands clasped together over the gearshift the entire ride. They were pulling into the driveway in less than twenty minutes and the small brunette's jaw clenched when she saw the "For Sale" sign planted firmly in the lawn, but she knew that this was the best option.

There was no way she could stand being there anymore, let alone owning it and using it while in town. Her family didn't want it either because none of them had any need for a second house and there were too many reminders, so the only alternative was to put it on the market.

Taking a deep breath and blinking rapidly, the small brunette exited the car with her fiancée and the pair walked up the short stone pathway to the front door and knocked on it.

It only took a few seconds before the door opened and William was standing in front of them in the doorway. It was just then that she noticed the white of his eyes was still tinged with a bit of red. She assumed so were hers as well as Chloe's.

"Hey girls. Come on in," the brown-haired man greeted his daughter and her significant other before moving aside to let them in, "Thank you so much for coming to help. I know it's hard, but I really do appreciate it."

The younger pair noticed Sheila gently storing a couple of things from what used to be the living room into a couple boxes, her eyes also misty and slightly bloodshot. They saw her look up at the noise. She only offered a small wave and a sad smile, which they returned, before continuing her task.

"Of course, Will. Anything for Beca's family," Chloe politely replied while Beca only nodded once again, not trusting her voice as she could already feel her eyes start to prickle with tears at being in the building without her mother this time.

William must have noticed because he immediately brought the petite woman into a hug, which she didn't hesitate to return, and whispered into her ear, "I know, honey. I know. I miss her too. Jan would be so proud of you for doing this. She was already so proud of you. You were the most important person to her. She loved you more than anyone in this world. You _were_ her world."

The petite Bella hadn't realized that some of her tears had escaped against her will until a sob involuntarily slipped through her lips and she allowed herself to fall further into the hug. She seemed to be needing those a lot lately.

_Beca and Chloe rushed into the hospital, exhausted from the flight but anxious to see the former's mother._

_"Hi. Hello," the small brunette hurried to the front desk, "Um, I'm looking for my mother, Janice Cooke. I'm—"_

_"Beca Mitchell, right?" The receptionist finished for her, "I watched your Freedom! '90 performance in France on Youtube. It was absolutely amazing and it even made me emotional, seeing how much all you girls love and support each other. I especially loved you and your girlfriend's beautiful moment together. I bought the song the second it came out. I've also listened to your other single and I can't wait for your first album to come out too."_

_"Heh. Um, thank you so much, but back to the reason why I'm here. Where is—" Beca tried to redirect the conversation, but her fiancée lightly tugged on her jacket and inadvertently cut her off._

_"Beca, look! It's your dad," Chloe informed the younger woman, pointing towards the man who was walking down a hallway with three styrofoam cups in his hands, two with hot drink lids on them._

_Beca followed the other Bella's viewpoint and immediately sprinted towards her father._

_"Dad!"_

_William whirled around, somehow without spilling nor dropping any of the drinks, and felt ten times better now that his daughter was here._

_"Beca, thank god you're here," he said, then gestured towards the receptionist as if to say _"They're with me"_ and started to lead the pair to his ex-wife's room, "It's a brain tumour._

_"We'd been talking on the phone about Thanksgiving and then all of a sudden there was a loud thud and she wasn't replying, so I called 911. She was collapsed on the floor of her kitchen when the paramedics got there and was barely respondent. They found the tumour when she was brought in. Your grandparents are already here and Mike's on his way as we speak."_

_"Oh my god. Is she gonna be okay?" Chloe questioned, taking two of the drinks from Mr. Mitchell to free up his hands._

_William thanked the redhead and answered, "Yes. Yes, of course, she's gonna be okay. They just need to do a surgery to remove the tumour and she'll be in the healing process in no time."_

_"Dad, don't lie to us or belittle the situation," Beca inadvertently snapped at her father._

_William didn't respond until they stopped in front of a room that the couple assumed was Janice's and turned towards the petite woman._

_Her eyes were misty despite the hard gaze she tried to hold and her mouth was twisted in a deep frown._

_Without thinking, he gently pulled his daughter into a hug and was a little surprised when she returned it._

_"She's gonna be okay. Your mom's a tough one. She's gonna make it through this and we're gonna be there for her every step of the way. She's going to be okay," the brown-haired assured the young Bella, silently praying that he wouldn't end up lying._

Once Beca regained her composure, she stepped away from her father's embrace and looked around the house that she'd been raised in.

Two of William's oldest friends, Matthew and John, had already loaded up the former's pickup truck with the things he'd like to keep, and were on their way to his house already.

Janice's brother, Michael, and a friend of his had done the same for his parents and himself. His things weren't terribly big nor numerous as he could only take so much back to London, England with him onto the plane. It was mostly pictures and other little reminders of his childhood with his younger sister.

It was strange. The place was barren and it felt so empty yet so full at the same time.

How was that even possible?

It was completely devoid of Beca's mother's physical presence, but traces of her existence lingered in the pastel-coloured walls and the modern-contemporary touches that she'd adored. It no longer screamed Janice Cooke with all of her belongings gone, but there was still a whisper in what remained.

"You can still back out at any time, honey, if it gets to be too overwhelming," William reminded Beca, who simply nodded distantly.

He shared a concerned look with his future daughter-in-law and his own significant other, before they all joined Sheila in packing up the rest of his ex-wife's valued assets.

The older couple stayed on the first floor in the open area where the living room, dining room, and kitchen used to be while the younger duo traveled up the staircase towards the second floor.

Beca, as if her body were on autopilot, made her way into her mother's bedroom. She paused for a beat in the doorway, but she nevertheless continued on, trying desperately to push back the onslaught of tears.

"Becs, I can do this room if…" Chloe's offer trailed off with a single shake of her girlfriend's head and a grateful kiss on her cheek.

The redhead only nodded and the two advanced further into the room and started going through the rest of Janice Cooke's things.

They started with stripping the bed completely.

_Janice sighed as she got home from her accounting job, tossing her keys into the little bowl on the end table near the front door and hanging up her purse and jacket. She immediately ascended the stairs and made her way towards her bedroom. Inside was her eight-year-old daughter, lying in her bed and watching TV._

_"Hey there, kiddo," she greeted the little girl, placing a couple bags onto the floor beside her bedside table, "How're you feeling?"_

_Beca looked away from the screen to watch her mother move around her room to find some more comfortable clothes than her business pantsuit._

_"Better," she answered in a slightly croaky voice._

_Janice stopped and eyed her daughter suspiciously. "You sure about that?"_

_She then moved over to the small brunette's side of the bed and felt her forehead and cheeks._

_"Liar."_

_"Okay, fine. I maybe threw up my lunch today," Beca shyly admitted, looking down at her lap in shame for lying to her mother._

_"Sweetie, why didn't you call me? I would've come home!" the brown-haired woman exclaimed, going into her walk-in closet to change into some sweatpants and a t-shirt._

_"Because you had to work," the eight-year-old replied, "Don't worry. I took care of it."_

_"Honey, it's my job as your mom to worry about you," Janice sighed as she came back out and climbed into bed with her sick kid, "Did you at least get to the bathroom? Did you eat anything afterwards?"_

_"Um…" Beca guiltily trailed off._

_"Beca," the accountant scolded._

_"I'm sorry. I got it all over Red and on your bed, so I had to give him a bath and clean up your sheets and I didn't wanna end up doing it all again 'cause it was a lot of work," the little girl told her mother._

_It was just then that Janice noticed the stuffed red panda wrapped up in a towel and cuddled up against her daughter's tiny side._

_"This is why you're not feeling any better, love. You didn't stay in bed all day and you've had an empty stomach since lunch," the brown-haired woman stated, "Lucky for you though, I may have stopped at your favourite restaurant on my way home and I might've gotten your favourite."_

_Beca gasped in excitement and asked, "Taco Bell?"_

_Janice reached down and revealed the bag with the Taco Bell logo on it and the eight-year-old practically started bouncing on the bed._

_"Okay, okay. Calm down there, kiddo. I don't want you getting worse or throwing up again," the accountant advised her daughter, who obediently settled down, however maintaining the beaming and excited grin._

_"Thank you, Mom," Beca said, "I love you."_

_Janice smiled softly at her girl and replied, "I love you too, Beca."_

Beca couldn't help but stare at the now barren bed. Any and all traces of her mother stripped of it and they will never return.

"Becs, what do you wanna do with these?" Chloe asked her fiancée, lightly placing a hand on the now folded bed set.

The shorter woman regarded the sheets for a moment of contemplation, then finally decided, "Give them away."

"Yeah?" the redhead asked.

"Yeah," Beca confirmed.

"Okay," Chloe replied, "Will you be okay alone for a couple seconds while I run these downstairs?"

The music producer nodded.

"Okay," the slightly taller Bella repeated.

She picked up the pile and began walking towards the door, only to pause and return to her love's side.

"I love you," Chloe told her fiancée with a soft kiss on her cheek.

"I love you too," Beca returned, copying the gesture.

The flame-haired singer lovingly ran a gentle hand down the other woman's back before resuming her leave.

Beca looked around the room. It was so empty. There was absolutely nothing anymore that made it look like anyone had ever lived there, let alone someone like her mother who had such a love for a home with a personality. It was like a punch right to the stomach.

She slowly moved towards the bedside table on her mother's preferred side and ran her hand over the old but solid wood. There was still a small chink on the edge of the tabletop, just over the drawer handle, from when she was six and even tinier than she already was.

Her mom had just bought the piece of furniture and little Beca had tried to be helpful and bring the table in by herself. The only problem was that she hadn't been able to see where she'd been going and had accidentally walked into the door frame with it.

Luckily, her mother hadn't gotten mad at her. Although in hindsight, she had been a bit more concerned with her daughter's bleeding lip rather than the little dent in her new bedside table.

Beca allowed a light smile to cross her face at the memory, despite the tears threatening to return to her eyes.

She then ran her fingertips delicately over the handle of the drawer. Her fingers wrapped around the metal and she pulled on it, opening the compartment.

The small brunette was surprised when a book fell into view. It must've been leaning against the back of the drawer, so her uncle Mike must've missed it when he'd cleared the room.

She took the book out and turned it over, placing it onto the table. It was one of his many family albums. Her uncle was a photographer, so every year, he'd make her mom an album for family day and she always loved every single one of them. This one was from when Beca was ten.

She flipped through the pages, letting out a soft laugh at the silly family portraits and smiling fondly at each picture of her mother, until she came across a certain image. It was taken out of context, but it was a perfect example of her uncle's amazing eye for photography.

_The backyard of the Cooke house was buzzing as Janice hosted her annual Fathers' Day BBQ._

_Ever since she'd divorced her ex-husband, Beca's father, she'd decided to spend breakfast with her parents and her brother and then throw a dinner barbecue and invite her brother, her friends who weren't parents, and her other single girl-friends, some of whom were also single moms._

_All of the adults were talking amongst each other and the children were playing on the play structure, some game called "Grounders" or something._

_Janice momentarily stepped away from her guests and approached her older brother, who was at the grill, cooking up the burgers and hotdogs and chatting with some people._

_"How're we doing, Mike?" she asked as she peered over the grill lid to inspect the meat._

_"I believe…we're just about done! You can go ahead and tell everyone to get their plates ready, Jan," Mike answered, turning over a couple of patties._

_"Perfect! You are much appreciated, Chef Michael," Janice playfully responded as she began to walk away and spread the news._

_"Always happy to serve, Ms. Hostess," the photographer replied._

_Janice went over to a group to let them know that they could gather their children and start picking out their food when there was a sudden cry from the direction of the play structure. It was a voice she could identify in her sleep._

_She quickly told her guests to spread the word about dinner then rushed over towards the group of children. They were all crowded around one tiny, brown-haired girl with tear-filled, navy blue eyes, collapsed on the grass._

_"Okay, kids, dinner's ready! Don't worry, I'm here. Go find your parents. I'll take care of Beca," Janice told the young ones, who obeyed, letting the adult handle the situation._

_The accountant immediately crouched down beside her little girl, running a gentle hand over her head and another over her arm, and talked to her, "Hey, baby. Are you okay? What happened? Are you hurt?"_

_The ten-year-old looked up at her mother, her lip quivering as she tried not to break down. She pulled herself up, sitting down on her heels, and showed her her tiny hands that were muddy and grass-stained, same as her knees._

_"I missed the steps and I fell and I didn't catch myself, but I tried and now my hands and knees hurt and they're dirty and I almost cried in front of the others, but I tried really hard not to, but it hurts so much, Mama!" Beca rambled, tears threatening to escape._

_She never liked crying in front of other kids. She preferred to look strong instead._

_"Okay, let's get you out of the mud first. Are you okay to stand up? Do you need help?" Janice asked, receiving a tiny nod in response, "Okay, up we go."_

_The woman lifted her daughter up and set her onto one of the play structure steps, then sat herself down beside her little girl._

_"Mike! Can you get me a wet towel and some bandaids please!" Janice called to her brother, who passed his job over to another adult and nodded, immediately setting off to do as requested._

_"It's okay. You're okay, baby. We're gonna get you cleaned and patched up and then we're gonna get you a hotdog. You love hotdogs, don't you, Bec?" the accountant spoke to her daughter to distract her from the pain._

_Beca only nodded, still sniffling._

_"Especially when Uncle Mike makes them, right?"—another nod—"He makes them perfectly, doesn't he? Just the way you like them," Janice conversed with the young girl._

_"And he always helps me reach everything I can't reach myself," the tiny brunette added, "And he always knows how much ketchup to put on. And which chips I like to go with my hotdog."_

_"And which flavour juice box is your favourite," Mike chimed as he approached his sister and niece with the towel and bandaids, having heard the little girl's side of the conversation._

_He then passed over the supplies to the mother and crouched down in front of Beca._

_"Looks like you had quite a tumble there, kid, but your mom's gonna fix you up, isn't she?" the photographer said to his young niece, who nodded, "And guess what I'm gonna do while she's doing that? I'm gonna go get you your hotdog just the way you like it with your favourite juice box and some extra chips for being such a tough girl. How does that sound?"_

_Beca finally cracked a little smile and nodded._

_"What do we say to Uncle Mike?" Janice asked her daughter as she already began cleaning up her knees._

_"Thank you, Uncle Mike!" the ten-year-old said._

_"You're welcome, Bec," he replied._

_"Thanks, Mike," the woman copied her daughter._

_"No problem, Jan," her brother replied with a warm smile, "I'll be right back."_

_Mike left the mother-daughter pair and walked over to the buffet table. He picked up a plate and grabbed a hotdog bun. He set it onto the dish and looked back at his family._

_A soft smile appeared on his face as he watched his younger sister clean, bandage, and kiss her daughter's palms as they sat together and talked, Beca already forgetting about her minor injuries._

_Out of the corner of his eye, the photographer caught sight of his camera. He put the plate down for a second and grabbed the device. He aimed the lens at the two and pressed down on the button._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part II is out now. It just ended up being so long that I split it quite literally in half. Thanks for reading.


	9. Supermarket Flowers - Ed Sheeran (Part II)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part II of Supermarket Flowers.

Beca's eyes and smile softened as she looked at the picture of her mother sitting beside ten-year-old her on the play structure, kissing her pain away. The photo her uncle took perfectly captured the love radiating from the both of them.

She suddenly felt a familiar presence approach her from behind and soon after, a chin settle comfortably on her shoulder and warm arms wrap around her.

"I love that picture," Chloe said as she analyzed the photo with her fiancée.

"Me too. It's always been one of my favourites. It represents our relationship perfectly. She always took care of me with nothing but devotion and love exactly like that," Beca explained, her voice breaking at the end, "I miss her so much."

"I know, baby. I'm sure she misses you just as much as you miss her," the redhead responded, her tender hold on her significant other tightening ever so slightly.

"Knowing her, she probably does," the shorter woman said with a soft laugh.

Chloe leaned her head against her fiancée and asked, "Where did you find that?"

"In the drawer. I think Uncle Mike missed it. I'll ask him about it later," Beca replied.

"Do you think there's anything else?" the older Bella asked as she reluctantly released her love.

"I don't know," Beca answered as she moved towards the closet and opened it.

Inside, right in the centre, was a dress cover hung up on the rod. A sticky note was attached to the front of it. The music producer took it off and read it aloud.

_"Bec,_

_Didn't know what to do with this. Thought I'd leave it up to you._

_Love, Uncle Mike"_

Beca unzipped the cover and was instantly thrown into a memory when she saw the navy blue dress inside.

_Beca weaved through the crowds in search of her mother. It didn't help that even in her high heels, she still couldn't see over many heads and shoulders. Nevertheless, she was finally able to spot her in her navy blue dress and she rushed over to her._

_"Mom!"_

_Janice spun around and immediately caught her daughter in her arms._

_"Oh, Bec! You look absolutely beautiful! I'm so proud of you! You finally did it! With all of the hard work you put in, you deserve this!" the older woman praised the younger one._

_"Thank you so much! I still can't believe I'm actually done!" Beca responded._

_The two released each other and Janice instantly said, "Okay, come on! Don't keep me waiting! Show me the diploma!"_

_The aspiring music producer laughed and held up her Barden University graduation diploma so that her mother could see it up close._

_Janie gasped and uttered, "I still can't believe my little girl is a college graduate now. It still feels like just yesterday, Uncle Mike was helping you make up your Father's Day barbecue plate because you couldn't reach anything on the table. So much has changed. Well, except for one thing."_

_"Okay! Really, Mom? Short jokes now?" Beca exclaimed in exasperation._

_The accountant giggled and replied, "Sorry. Couldn't help it."_

_"Of course you couldn't," the small brunette said with a playful eye-roll, "Um, speaking of fathers…"_

_"Oh God. Don't tell me he's here," Janice muttered, her smile disappearing._

_"Mom, of course he's here. Not only is he a professor to some of the other graduates, but he's also my dad," Beca responded, "Come on. You guys haven't seen each other for more than like five minutes since he left us and you guys separated. You can't keep avoiding him forever. In fact, he's gonna be at the Bella party today."_

_The older woman arched an eyebrow and questioned, "Was this planned?"_

_"I swear, it wasn't my idea!" the college graduate instantly claimed innocence, which earned her a deadpan look._

_She sighed and explained, "Look, you know that I let Dad back into my life three years ago and you accepted it. I know you didn't like it, but you accepted it._

_"It took a really long time for me to trust him again, but I do now and I believe him when he says he regrets what he did. He knows he fu—uh, I mean screwed up, he knows that he's in the wrong, and he knows that if he wants a relationship with me, he needs to form one with you too. He wants to fix his mistakes. He started with me and now he wants to make amends with you."_

_Janice still looked hesitant, so Beca continued, "Just give him _one_ chance and if he blows it,_ _you'll never have to see_ o_r hear about him again. I promise. I'll keep my relationship with him separate."_

_Her mother sighed and finally said, "Beca, I would never ask you to do that—"_

_"You're not asking, I'm guaranteeing," the Bellas' captain corrected._

_"I know," Janice assured, "One chance."_

_"Really?" Beca asked, a hopeful glint crossing her eyes._

_"Anything for you, love," the accountant confirmed, "Now, I wanna see that amazing girlfriend of yours and congratulate her and the rest of the Bellas."_

_The aspiring music producer grinned and eagerly led her mother towards her beloved second family._

* * *

_Later that evening, a party at the Bellas' on-campus "sorority" house was in full swing as people chatted, ate snacks, and celebrated the girls' graduation._

_Beca and her mother were talking with Chloe and her family when the small brunette suddenly perked up and placed a hand on her mom's forearm._

_"Oh! Mom, Dad and Sheila just got here! Come on!" Beca insisted as she led her mother over to her father and his wife, "Dad! Sheila!"_

_"Bec, hey! Congratulations, kiddo! We're both so proud of you!" William exclaimed enthusiastically as he and the blonde woman beside him hugged his daughter._

_He then noticed his ex-wife and he carefully yet politely greeted her, "Hi, Janice."_

_"William. Sheila," Janice returned a greeting of her own._

_"I'm glad you're here. I think we have a lot to talk about," the comparative literature professor stated._

_"I think we do," the accountant agreed._

_Beca sensed that this would need to be a private discussion, so she turned to her step-mother and said, "Hey, Sheila. Chloe and her family's in the other room."_

_Taking the hint, the blonde woman followed her step-daughter and soon enough, the two exes were left alone._

_There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before William finally decided to begin, "Look, I know it's much too late and much too small, but let me just start off by saying I'm so sorry…"_

From that day on, Janice and William had learnt how to civilly co-parent Beca, despite her already being an adult. Janice had then begun to tolerate Sheila as well. Eventually, the three had formed a respectful friendship through their relationships with Beca.

She'd never admit it, but reuniting, even just platonically, her parents was one of Beca's most important accomplishments in her life. Sure, they weren't a typical happy family, but they were content and they all considered each other friends at least and that was good enough for them.

"So, what do you wanna do with it?" Chloe gently asked her fiancée, recognizing the dress as well.

"I'd like to keep it. I know it would never fit me, but…it holds too important a memory for it to be in anyone's hands but mine," Beca decided.

"Of course, Becs," the redhead easily agreed as she watched the shorter woman carefully zip the cover back up, take it off of the rod, and gently lay it onto the bed, "Is there anything else you think they could've missed?"

The small brunette reflected for a moment, before she suddenly started moving around the room. She returned to the bedside table and moved it aside, revealing a small section of the seemingly solid bed frame that didn't quite line up with the rest of it.

"My mom told me she had asked my dad to hollow out a little space in the bed frame when they were still together so that she could hide her most important things. I almost forgot about it," Beca explained as she opened the secret compartment and pulled out a wooden, elegant-looking jewellery box.

"Wow. That's really clever…and kind of borderline Bond material," Chloe commented, watching her significant other place the case onto the bed next to the dress.

The other Bella chuckled softly and opened the box. It was full of various, little objects. A couple pictures of family, including Janice's grandparents, parents, brother, and daughter. Some little mementos that were presumably meaningful to the late woman.

However, as expected, it was mostly jewellery, but each piece looked special and maybe even one-of-a-kind. Most of them were probably family heirlooms, but there was one that caught Beca's eye.

It was a very simple, silver band ring, but it had engraved into it in a graceful cursive, _"Endless love –B"._

"She wasn't wearing it and I got so worried that it was lost and I'd never find it, but she put it in here," the younger woman realized.

"She always had it on whenever I saw her," Chloe commented in confusion.

There was literally not a single moment when the flame-haired singer saw Janice Mitchell not wearing this ring. If she didn't know any better, it was her most prized material possession.

"I remember her talking to me about how worried she was that her finger felt like it was shrinking. She was terrified that it was gonna fall off and she'd lose it forever, so she was telling me how she was planning on getting it made into a necklace. She must've put it in here to keep it safe," Beca determined with a light smile.

The ring was undoubtedly Janice's favourite and most valuable piece of jewellery. It was the very first gift her daughter had ever gotten her all by herself.

The girl was twelve and she had spent an entire summer saving up for this gift. She had secretly gotten a job as a dog-walker for an older couple a block over. They'd given her $4 a day, $2 per walk. She had gone over twice every single day of her summer vacation and had hidden away the money she'd earned, then she'd gone with her uncle to the jewellery store and gotten the custom-made ring for her mom for her birthday.

Yes, it was a really big gift, especially to start with, but that wasn't what mattered to Janice and it's not like she expected more like that from then on. It was the work and the genuine thought and care that her daughter had put into getting it for her, notably at that young an age, and that was what made it so special to her—to them both.

Looking at her mother's most precious ring, made Beca remember when she'd shown her her most precious ring for the first time.

_Just a couple months ago, Beca and her parents were visiting with Chloe and her family in the redhead's hometown of Tampa, Florida._

_The couple had arranged a little Mitchell-Beale reunion as they had something _very important _to tell them. Luckily, both women's parents and Chloe's older brother, Johnathan, had been able to get a couple days off work and Chloe's younger brother, Thomas, was already staying with their parents while he worked during his summer vacation from college._

_Both families were sitting at the big Beale dining table the first evening of the trip when Thomas somewhat suspiciously questioned, "So what's with the big family reunion, you two?"_

_"Couldn't even make it through one dinner, huh, Tommy?" his older sister teased him for his always inquisitive nature._

_"Nope, so spill before I start guessing," the youngest Beale sibling playfully threatened._

_"Been at college for two years now and still haven't learnt the virtue of patience," Johnathan commented jokingly._

_"When will I ever? Way too much conflict with my otherwise flawless personality," Thomas retorted._

_This was one of Beca's favourite things about Chloe's family: the banter between the three. They all had such good friendships with each other, which was uncommon with siblings._

_"Well, patience can be key because I waited until both Beca and I were definitely ready before I proposed to her," Chloe nonchalantly argued, which earned her six sets of wide, shocked eyes and one amused smirk from her new fiancée._

_"Okay, but not everyone has that level of patience. I mean, I—" Thomas continued, the previous statement completely going over his head._

_"Tom. Tom! TOM! Shut! Up!" Johnathan distractedly ordered his brother before addressing the two younger women, "Okay, repeat?"_

_"Well, I guess we 'repeat' or I could show you instead," Beca spoke this time, casually raising her left hand and revealing the engagement ring for the first time._

_"HOLY SH—! OH MY GOD!" Everyone exclaimed as they all jumped to their feet to congratulate and embrace the newly engaged couple, who were just laughing at their reactions._

_Janice held her daughter's hand in her own as she looked at the ring in awe and demanded, "What—When did this happen?"_

_"Two months ago," Beca answered, grinning at the pure joy on her mother's face._

_"Oh my god! Congratulations, honey! I'm so happy for you both!" the accountant enthused as she hugged her daughter and then her future daughter-in-law._

_The couple thanked everyone and continued their dinner once the excitement had settled down a little._

_Afterwards, the Beale brothers were bantering with their sister's new fiancée as they cleared the table while William, Sheila, and Chloe's parents conversed and washed and put away dishes. This left Janice and Chloe packing up and storing the leftovers together._

_"Thank you, Chloe. Really," the older woman suddenly said in one of the most sincere tones Chloe had ever heard._

_The redhead furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "For what?"_

_"For making my girl happy," Janice replied with a warm and admiring smile, "Ever since I first heard your name come out of my daughter's mouth, I felt you were gonna be someone special to her. I knew it when I saw you two together for the first time. And I'm proven right every single time you're with each other._

_"I've never seen anyone make Beca happier in my entire life. I've never seen anyone treat her as amazingly as you do and that's all a mother could ask for from her child's partner. I could not imagine a better future daughter-in-law."_

_Chloe gave the other woman a teary smile and she responded, "Thank you so much, Janice. I admire you so much and your acceptance means the world to me and I know it does to Beca too. I can't wait to become a part of your family."_

_Janice returned a similar smile and agreed, "And I, yours."_

Tears began to fill Chloe's eyes too this time as she shared the beautiful memory of their engagement announcement and watched the love of her life slip the ring onto her left thumb. A perfect fit.

"You should keep it," the redhead recommended as she hugged the younger woman from the side and planted a kiss on her temple.

"I agree," Beca answer simply, tracing the piece of jewellery with her index finger, "Let's take this with us and go through it later."

"Of course," Chloe acceded, then glanced around the bedroom, "Do you think there's anything else in here that was missed?"

"I don't think so, but let's check the dresser, then move on to a different room," the small brunette suggested.

The flame-haired singer nodded in agreement. The two cleared the dresser, then exited the room. They brought the dress and jewellery box back downstairs and carefully added them to the pile of things to keep.

They then returned upstairs and continued checking the second floor. The bathroom and the guest room room had already been completely emptied and Beca's old room really just had a couple of her things, which she added to her pile downstairs, so they were all easy.

Finally, the couple reached Janice's office and they both froze in the doorway. Absolutely everything was gone except for a vase with a beautiful bouquet of carnations, most of which were pink.

They immediately recognized the flowers as they'd ordered them online on the town's local supermarket floral shop's website specially for the late woman merely a week and a half ago for her birthday. Beca had customized the bouquet herself. Carnations had been her mother's favourites, especially the pink ones. She was always practically drawn to them.

Beca and Chloe slowly entered the room and noticed another sticky note. This time, the latter bent down, picked up the piece of paper, and read the written words aloud.

_"Bec,_

_We found them when we were emptying the office. They've still got a couple days left._

_Love, Uncle Mike"_

The redhead looked up from the note and noticed the fresh tears running down her fiancée's face. She immediately wrapped the younger woman into a hug and let her cry in her arms for a moment.

"Hey," Chloe spoke softly as she leaned back and looked directly into watery and unfocused yet deep, navy blue eyes, "What are you thinking?"

"Can we please go back? I need to go back. I need to properly say goodbye to her, Chlo. Please?" Beca requested.

"Of course we can, Becs. I'll drive," the slightly taller Bella easily agreed, then gently put her hand on her cheek and wiped the tears on the side of her face.

The music producer thanked her significant other, then carefully picked up the vase. They descended the stairs, passing by Beca's father and step-mother and briefly letting them know where they were going.

As promised, Chloe drove while Beca sat in the passenger seat, holding the vase on her lap and absentmindedly watching the town of her childhood pass her by. Her eyes then moved down to the beautiful flowers.

_Beca kept her eyes locked on her lap as she listened to her father's voice but not his words. She couldn't seem to focus on his speech when she was trying to build up the strength to deliver her own._

_She suddenly felt a soft, warm hand over her own and she looked to her side._

_Chloe with tears in her own eyes as well stared back at her with love and sympathy. She then gave a little nod towards the podium and it was then that Beca noticed everyone was watching her, waiting for her._

_The small brunette stiffly stood up and approached the front of the crowd of mourners. Her father stood there with her as she turned towards the group, which she was silently thankful for._

_Her eyes had been glued to the podium until she finally tore them away and towards the many familiar faces full of grief and sadness and loss._

_Beca separated her lips, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth, then her eyes because she could feel another wave of fresh tears were approaching. All of these years and she still hated crying in front of people._

"You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." _The internal voice wasn't her own, it was her mother's. It always had been when she needed a self pep talk and it always will be. That will never change._

_She reopened her eyes and tried again._

_"She…she was my best friend…"_

That was all Beca had been able to get out. The next thing she knew, she was standing somewhere away from everyone, wrapped in Chloe's arms and they were both wrapped in Aubrey's, Stacie's, Emily's, and Amy's arms, not a single one of them dry-eyed.

Janice Cooke deserved a better goodbye than that from the person she'd devoted her entire life to. Beca owed a better goodbye than that for the person who'd always been there for her to love her, to care for her, to just _be there_ for her.

The car came to a stop and Beca looked around. They'd arrived and she hadn't even noticed.

"You can do this, Becs," Chloe reassured her full-heartedly, "I'm right here with you. Forever."

"I love you so much, Chloe," the younger woman declared with the utmost sincerity.

"I love you so much, Beca," the redhead returned in the exact same manner, "You can do this."

Beca nodded. She carefully removed the bouquet from the vase and the two women climbed out of the car. Their destination was easy to spot as the dirt was still freshly disturbed. She was more than satisfied with how the headstone had turned out.

_"Janice Anne Cooke_

_August 23rd 1966 – September 2nd 2017_

_Friend, Daughter, Sister,_

_Mother"_

The couple stood in front of the grave and read and reread the passage in silence for a moment, allowing Beca to gather her thoughts. Finally, she began to speak.

"Hey, Mom. I know it's kinda lame, but I came back," the music producer said, "I came back because…"

Beca looked up and right there, she saw her. She saw her mother. It was an angel in the shape of her mom. She was standing right in front of her with the everlasting, warm, loving smile.

The shorter Bella's eyes watered, but she forced herself to continue on, directly addressing her beloved mother.

"I came back because I messed up with my speech earlier and you deserve so much better than that and I'm so sorry."

Chloe gently grabbed her fiancée's hand for support and comfort.

"I meant what I said, but I wanted to say so much more. I didn't know why I couldn't say it before, but I do now. It was because I needed to do it like this. I needed to do it this way. Not in front of a group of people. Just you and me, like it had always been. So here's what I wanted to say.

"First, I want to thank you for _everything_ you did for me. You dedicated your entire life for me. You worked extra hours so that we could live a comfortable life. You helped me with my homework whenever I needed it. You kept me fed and clothed and sheltered. You supported my dreams and never doubted me. You always picked me up when I fell down and you held me up until I was okay to keep going again.

"You cared for me always and loved me endlessly. You made me your whole world and I will never be able to fully express how grateful I am to you and for you and how lucky I am to have been your daughter.

"I want to tell you that I wish you were still here. I wish you were still here with me. I wish you could've been here to see me when I become the best musician and producer that I could possibly be. I wish you could've been here to witness the day I marry the love of my life. I wish you could've been here to be able to call Chloe your daughter-in-law, no 'future' needed. I wish you could've been the amazing grandmother that I know you would've been to our future kids. All I can hope is that I'll be even just half the mother that you were.

"And finally, I just want to tell you how much I love and miss you. I really meant it when I said you were my best friend. You were one of the closest and most important people in my life and no one will ever fill the void I now feel without you. I treasure every single memory with you more than any material possession. I will wear this ring every second of the rest of my life in honour of you. I will never stop missing you, I will never stop cherishing you, and I will never stop loving you.

"I love you endlessly."

Both women were openly crying at this point, but neither could bring themselves to worry about it. Beca kept all of her focus on her mother of an angel.

Janice had tears accumulating in her eyes as well. Her smile had grown into the most loving one Beca had ever witnessed. Her lips moved.

_"I love you endlessly,"_ she mouthed in return, before she slowly started to fade until she was gone. Forever.

Beca smiled too despite her feelings of loss and heartache. She then turned towards her fiancée and hugged her with all of the love she could convey, sensing the emotion returned full-heartedly. Finally, they walked back towards the car, their hands clasped and interlaced, leaving the grave with a beautiful, new bouquet of supermarket flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's the actual ending. Interesting (possibly) little fact: I actually used this for my 12th Grade Writers' Craft magnum opus. I got a good grade:)
> 
> Also, I do indeed realize that I've now cut in with this story before posting the second part of the I Will Always Be Yours story. I hope that doesn't annoy anyone. I've just been having writers' block/lack of inspiration with that half as well as with my other story, which is now on AO3 as well as Fanfic.net, I Have Been Waiting For You. I think it's safe to say that my two Pitch Perfect fics will now officially be on an indefinite hiatus. My sincerest apologies for those who are enjoying them. I just can't seem to be productive with them. Hopefully I will soon, but I just don't know for now.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.


End file.
